Canterlot Dorks: Canterlot High's Dark Secrets

Chapters

Ch2: The Corner of Gossips.
Ch3: Night At The School
Ch4: Dizzy's Happiness
Ch5: The Problems with Love
Ch6: Crowned's Dilemma
Ch7: The Clock Tower
Prologue: The Meeting of Two Dorks
Ch1: The Optimist, The Bitter-Pants, & The Girls with Colorful Manes

Ch2: The Corner of Gossips.

Crowned was dragged around alongside a still unconscious Dizzy into one of the classrooms, where the other girls were waiting for them, except for Twilight, who was missing. As soon as they arrived, Applejack told the girls what just happened outside in the courtyard.

"...And then this boy found m'ah Element," she finished explaining, ignoring for a moment that she was still carrying Crowned with her, and he was more than comfortable around her chest.

"So soooft..." his muffled voice could be heard, causing the other girls to giggle.

"Darling, I think you're fulfilling all the dreams and fantasies of the crowned boy right now," Rarity giggled as she pointed out where AJ was holding his partner.

"Huh? What are y'ah talkin' abo-" she then looked down to her chest, and feeling a bit embarrassed he stopped hugging him letting the boy fall down to the floor. "Oh, sorry about that. A'h was just so excited and didn' realize where A'h was holdin' y'ah, champ."

Crowned whimpered in a comical fashion, sad that his moment of glory had finished. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie noticed the pale boy lying unconscious on the floor and approached him.

"One question," she began to ask as she touched the boy with her feet, "What's Dizzy doing asleep?"

"Uuuhm, I think he fainted from the ghosts?" Crowned replied, doubtful if they were going to believe him.

"Ghosts? Oh, you mean the black magic sha-" the others rushed to shut Pinkie up, but enough had slipped away.

"Wait, black magic shadows?"

"What's the matter?" A voice asked from the door of the classroom. "You brought them here to explain what is happening, didn't you? Why hide them information then?"

The whole gang turned their heads and noticed the girl that had just arrived: Sunset Shimmer. She walked towards the boys and noticed the unconscious Dizzy. The girl smiled kindly and kneaded his head as she spoke.

"Silly overprotective... I know you don't like him that much, but he's the only guy that pays attention to me. Well, him and Flash."

Crowned then approached to the newly arrived girl, greeting her in a gentle way.

"Sunset Shimmer?"

"The one and only," Sunset responded with kindness as she grabbed his hand, "You must be Crowned, it's a pleasure to meet you. From what I heard my friends say, you recovered one of the lost "elements", right?"

"Wait, what element? What shadows? What is going on?" the crowned boy looked quite confused about this turn of events, when he noticed something important, "And where is Twilight?"

Sunset sighed after hearing all his question, and looked directly to Applejack and company with a frown on her face.

"Sorry, sugarcube," Applejack apologized. "We just brought 'im here and haven't explained everything, but we're also waitin' for Dizzy to wake up to tell 'im too."

"Trust me, I know Dizzy and..." Sunset looked upon the unconscious boy and rolled her eyes a bit, "I think it's better if Crowned tells him later. He might freak out if he wakes up and see us all together."

"Good point," the farmer with freckles replied.

"Ok, where do we start...? Crowned, you've already heard about 'that day', haven't you?"

"Oh yes, yes!" He answered in a somewhat innocent manner. “You became an angry she-demon, Twilight and the others helped you..."

"Well, yeah, besides that." Sunset blushed a new tone of red as she tried to avoid direct contact.

"Did something more happened?" Crowned asked surprised by her reaction.

"Well, it's a long story, actually," Sunset responded, her cheeks no longer red. "Let me start by confessing I'm not precisely a normal girl."

"But neither am I, just let me tell you about the time I-"

Sunset coughed a couple times, calling his attention.

"Can you please let me finish?"

"Oh, sorry," Crowned apologized to Sunset as she proceeded.

“Alright, let's just say that..." Sunset took a deep breath and then she spilled the beans, "I come from a world far different to yours. In my world, magic exists and surround the whole planet, that magic connects us and is part from our daily life; but a long time ago I ran away from that place after my old teacher... disappointed me. It was more stubbornness than anything, and I came to this place to discover its lack of magic, so I stayed here thinking about one day finding some sort of source of power to go back to my world with more strength and skill... with time, I found that there was no trace of magic in this world, so I decided to bring the magic to my world to this one instead. I stole the "Element of Magic" and tried to use it with selfish motivations, but at the end the magic ended up dominating me yet Twilight and the others used positive magic to stop me..."

Crowned listened to her whole explanation with an open mind, amazed about all her talk about a different world full of magic. Sunset was relieved to see he trusted in her.

"That's a great story!" he said marveled, with his eyes almost shining in delight, "So, what is the problem?"

Sunset once again let a deep sigh leave her body, as she continued her explanation.

"When the girls stopped me, I thought it was over, but in reality... it had just begun."

"J-Just begun? You mean... oh dear." Connecting the dots between her story and what he had witnessed minutes ago, Crowned concluded what was going on. "YOU MEAN THOSE BLACK SHADOWS?! THAT'S WHERE THEY CAME FROM?! AND WHY ARE THEY STAYING HERE?!"

"That's the problem, I don't know it neither!" Sunset exclaimed, grabbing her head in concern, "I don't know where they came from, what if they've been here all the time? Or what do they want? That's one of our main problems and questions we have now. I have my theory that it's all black magic that was left impregnated all over the school, but I have no wat to prove it. All I know is one thing: They're looking over them."

Sunset looked directly to Applejack's necklace, but Crowned didn't get what she was looking at.

"They look over... what?"

"The Elements of Harmony."

"The... What now?" the crowned boy looked even more confused, trying to digest all the information she was giving him.

The other girls looked all over to Sunset, who realized she had to explain to him more about what she meant.

"In my world, the Elements of Harmony exist, six elements that help the world be in peace and, well, harmony, and which the rulers of my country use to maintain the order. For some reason, when Twilight released the wave of pure magic, not only she defeated me and helped disperse the magic through the world, it also caused this world to sprout Parallel Elements of Harmony. The shadows seem to not like that and have been behind them all the time since we found the first one."

"Wait, ARE YOU SAYING YOU HAVE MORE ELEMENTS?!" Crowned exclaimed in shock, only to find himself with a not so uplifting notice.

"No. You see, we found one of the elements also turned to stone. But when we tried to approach to it, those shadows appeared, and when we tried to fight them, they somehow absorbed magic from out of us."

"Wait, how?! Are you magical?!" Crowned' mind was blown once again at all the information Sunset was dropping on him.

"The Element of Magic gave me and the others a part of its power, but that's why we're vulnerable," the girl replied, looking down to the floor. "The magic inside us is already a part of our beings. If they absorb enough, they'll probably have enough strength to attack the rest of the school or even the city. When we encountered them, we were forced to escape from that place while the shadows left with the element. I soon lost all hope thinking that I had doomed this world with dark magic, that's why I was surprised you were able to find an element without any shadow attacking you."

"Oh, thanks," Crowned said in response, his cheeks now blushing, "And why do you think the shadows didn't attack us?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sunset replied to him, "Because you don't have magic, they couldn't attack you or even absorb magic from you, that's why if you and Dizzy go for the rest of the elements, we might be able to use them to destroy the shadows."

This took Crowned completely off-guard, and didn't know how to react.

"Wait, YOU WANT US TO GO SEARCHING FOR THE ELEMENTS?!"

"Please Crowned, I just told you that we can't personally go searching for them," Sunset began to beg, "The shadows might have them, but I'm sure that you will be able to help us recover them."

"Ok, ok. Look, I understand your dilemma but, why me?" the crowned boy asked very concerned and scared, "Why can't Flash help you? I mean, he looks more capable than... well, me or Dizzy."

"Because he already has an important duty," Sunset explained, but was quickly interrupted by Pinkie.

"You mean kissing Twilight?"

"PINKIE!!!" everyone shouted at the same time.

"Not that, of course!" the red & yellow haired girl apologized to Crowned, "He is protecting Twilight from the shadows."

"Are you sure that's all he does?" Pinkie Pie teased again the others, who once again responded in the same way:

"PINKIE!!!"

Crowned couldn't help but laugh at Pinkie Pie's responses.

"Okay, I understand.... So, what does Twilight has to say about this?"

For a moment, the six girls remained silent, exchanging awkward looks between each other. Finally, Sunset answered his question.

"We haven't told her anything about this. I could tell her that the Twilight from our world saved us and..."

"Ooooh, okay, I understand now." Crowned said calmly, looking at the girl in front of him. "So, this Twilight knows nothing... I understand, what with parallel universes and all that, but... Ugh, do I really have to?"

Sunset was about to speak, when she was cut short unexpectedly by Pinkie, who instead said:

"If you do it, we'll arrange you a date with AJ!"

Both Crowned and Applejack turned a bright shade of red, and AJ even hid her face behind her hat.

"PINKIW PIE!!!" she yelled at her friend, who simply giggled at her overreaction.

"...I'd actually want that date," the boy muttered, before clearing his throat and replying. "I mean, okay! Just because you really trust in me and you'll help me with Dizzy, I'm going to help you."

Everyone in the room felt a lot more relieved knowing the boys could lend them a hand with their unexpected predicament.

"Alright, thank you, Crowned," Sunset answered, looking at him with a sincere smile, "We really appreciate this, and I hope you can convince Dizzy too."

"Don't worry about it, I'll do it."

"But just in case-" she then proceeded to hand him a folded piece of paper, "-show him that, it should be enough for him to accept."

"Thanks Sunset, I appreciate it."

Crowned then picked up his friend from the floor and carried him away, as Sunset turned towards her friends, discussing their plans for both Dizzy and the shadows situation.

Later that day, Crowned was taking lunch at the cafeteria, a still unconscious Dizzy by his side. Looking at the time, the crowned boy thought it was about time to wake up his friend.

"Dizzy... Dizzyyyy... Wake up little bud-"

"GAAAAAAH! WHATILEARNEDATDRIVINGSCHOOLWAS..." Dizzy woke up screaming like crazy, before realizing he was at the Cafeteria, and that once again he had caught the stares of everyone, including his friend who couldn't help but try to contain his laughter. "Oh, uhm.... hello, bud."

"Feeling better?"

"Well yeah, that nap sure helped me," Dizzy stretched his arms, still feeling a little dazzled, "You know, I had this weird dream where I saw some ugly ghosts thingies-"

"By the way, now that you mention that," Crowned interrupted, "there are another five magical stones in the school, and I told Sunset that we could search for them."

The already pale boy became even more translucid white when he heard what his friend said.

"...You mean it wasn't a dream?" he said in a calm yet noticeably nervous voice.

"Nope."

Dizzy remained in a stunned silence for a moment, before almost breaking into loud screaming if it wasn't for Crowned stuffing an apple on his mouth.

"Hey, calm down, my friend," he said trying to relax him a bit, "Don't scream, it won't even be that hard! Those shadows can't do anything to us."

Dizzy tried to respond, but his voice became muffled by the apple in his mouth. Spitting it out, the pale one tried to speak again.

"Wait, are you sure about that?"

"Sure! It's... 99% safe." Although he tried to sound sure, it wasn't enough for his friend.

"99% IS NOT ENOUGH!" Dizzy replied with fear in his voice. "Besides... are you sure Sunset is aware of that?"

"If you don't trust me, she gave me this." Crowned left the piece of paper that Sunset gave to him on the table in front of his friend.

"Huh? What is...?” Dizzy unfolded the small paper, and his face went even paler than usual as he place his hands over his cheeks, "OH NO!!!"

To his absolute shock, he found out it was the "Slave for a Week" ticket he told Crowned about, and on it there was something written: Dizzy, as my slave for a week, I order you to help Crowned with his mission. Thank you, signed: Sunset Shimmer.

"...why did I have to give her that gift?" he slammed his head on the table, his head spinning from both the hit and the realization.

"Well, it’s official: You're with me. Now... where do we begin?"

"I HAVE NO IDEA!!!" Dizzy cried, feeling like he just got into a death trap.

Noticing his friend crying in a somewhat exaggerated fashion, Flash approached to their table alongside a couple of curious looking guys: one had brown hair and wore a distinguishable green beanie with pretty normal appearance, while the other had a more high-class look, with a white scarf with a fleur-de-lis on it and designer clothes.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Flash greeted his friends, who raised their heads and acknowledged their friend.

"Oh hey, Flash!" Crowned said upbeat, "They already told me about-"

Aware of what he was about to say, Flash made signs with his hand asking him to stop.

"Wait, about what, exactly?" asked the elegant boy with the fleur-de-lis.

"What are you hiding now, you wretch?" the other boy said unenthusiastically.

Crowned realized how close he was to screwing up big time, so he instead saved some face and said something to cover up his mistake.

"Uuuhm, that... You were kissing Twilight in the lips! Yeah, that's it!" he was sweating a little bit, but managed to dissimulate enough for everyone to not notice.

"Uhm, yes, that's... Wait a minute," realizing now he had screwed up, Flash blushed brighter than a traffic light, "NO NO NO! I HAVEN'T-"

"Heheheh, you big fool," the red-haired boy laughed, "She just came back and you're already kissing her?"

"You idiot," the normal-looking guy snarked, "you're going full Brad-mode again, don't you?"

"SHUT UP!" Flash screamed trying to stop the teasing, feeling his cheeks turn even more reddish. Crowned was intrigued by the two new guys and asked his friend about them.

"And who are your friends, Flash?"

"Well," the blue-haired brought forward his two companions, "let me present to you my other friends: this is Nolan, one of the richest boys in school and somewhat crazy, he knows all kind of gossips and news here."

"That's me, man," Nolan said, shaking Crowned's hand.

"And this other guy is Norman, the most normal guy in the world." Flash slightly pushed his friend towards Crowned, so they could greet each other. "Seriously, if you look up the definition of 'normal' in a dictionary, you'll find his photo."

Crowned bursted in laughter at Flash's remark, only to be interrupted by Norman, who proceeded to take out a dictionary from his backpack.

"I-It's true, he's not lying." Opening the book, he showed a picture of him, under the definition of "normal".

"...oh dear, you're right," Crowned said surprised of this.

"I thought that photoshooting was for a magazine, but I should've imagined that it wasn't. It isn't normal anyways," the boy explained a bit, but only caused everyone in the table to burst into laughter. "D-Don't laugh, I really thought so!"

"Pfft! Dude, seriously, you should feel proud of being in the dictionary," the crowned boy tried to sheer him up.

"Ok, you're right on that," Norman said unenthusiastically, "I feel like I'm the only normal man in this damned school."

"You say that because of what happened that day?"

Flash immediately shushed Crowned for asking, looking around hoping nobody was looking suspiciously.

"Shush, remember that NONE OF THAT HAPPENED!" he added, looking at everyone in the table.

"You know, I'd say that it is not normal to be paranoid about the government having ears inside the school," Norman began to speak, showing a bit of concern, "but after going to 'that place' I'm starting to believe you're actually right about it."

"'That place'?" Crowned asked with curiosity.

"Oh right, forgot you were new here," Nolan apologized before explaining. "Norman was talking about the Corner of Gossips."

"The what now?!"

Nolan looked at every side of the table, making sure there was no teacher or similar authority nearby, and explained everything to the new student.

"At certain hours, in the farthest corner of school, far away from the classrooms and the Principal's Office, there are a bunch of strange looking lockers, accidentally built bigger than they should be. That place is used to create a kind of 'black market' where some students can buy already made homework; others go and buy lost school supplies like collection pens that people leave forgotten in the halls, tickets for events, copies of books, stuff like that; but it's also a place where all kinds of gossips and rumors are shared, and because of that it was dubbed the 'Corner of Gossips'. We've heard all sorts of strange rumors, like that one saying that Miss Cheerilee is dating a Senior of his oldest class."

"Oh, my," Crowned managed to say, just thinking about how real could a rumor like that be.

"Wait, that was a rumor? I thought that was true," Dizzy exclaimed surprised.

"Well, the gossips from that place spread so fast that some actually take them as facts, like those weird rumors about ghosts in the school."

Dizzy, Flash and Crowned gasped in shock, amazed that somehow a part of the school had already heard of that rumor. But of course the one that was most scared was Dizzy, who demanded to know what Nolan knew.

"WHAT RUMORS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" he screamed while grabbing his friend from his shirt.

"Woah whoa! Calm down, dude!" he said while letting Dizzy go off his shirt, "It's just a bunch of silly rumors, those that say that there are ghosts or something like that in the school, but nobody cares much about those; they prefer the hottest news like that rumor about Miss Raven having a new love interest."

Knowing where that rumor originated from, Dizzy just rolled his eyes and frowned upon Crowned, but at the same time an idea sprouted in his mind.

"Nolan, where do you say is that place, again?"

"In the furthest corner of the school, of course," Nolan responded.

"More specifically?"

"Turning right at the end of the main hall."

"Thank you." Dizzy then stood up and made a gesture to Crowned, asking to follow him.

"What are you-" It took Crowned a moment to comprehend, but then he realized, "Oh, I get it! We're going to-"

Dizzy and Flash both covered their friend's mouth and dragged him away from the Cafeteria, to a more private place. Checking every corner to make sure nobody else heard them, Flash began to scold him.

"Crowned, do not speak of that!"

"Why?! What did I do?!" he responded in utter confusion, wondering what he did wrong.

"HAVEN'T YOU TELL HIM, DIZZY?!" Flash berated to his friend, who tried to excuse himself.

"WHY ARE YOU BLAMING ME?! THIS IS BARELY HIS THIRD DAY!"

"BUT WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

Realizing there was no other way but to explain everything to the new guy, Flash took some air and sighed, before answering his question."

"Ok, look, those events that happened long ago supposedly 'never happened'. We all ignore it and just continue with our daily routines."

"What? But why do you do so?"

"Remember what Norman said about the government?" Flash said, sounding somewhat worried, "That's not far from truth. The principals are afraid that if this becomes public, the government might come to close the school and try to do investigations, and aside from that they would take Sunset away to examine her."

"That's why we avoid AT ANY COST directly mentioning those events," Dizzy added to his friend's explanation, "and for our own good, we don't mention we're going after things that might cause a similar event."

Crowned thought about what he was just told, and with a determined face, he simply responded:

"Ok, I perfectly understand. So what shall we do then?"

"Simple: we wait to the end of the class, and we stay until the corner is set up and we go," Dizzy explained with a smile. "I mean, you have no problem staying until later today, right?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, friend. I can stay for longer than usual."

"Well," Flash commented, "maybe I'll stay too but for other reasons, so if you need me just give me a call."

"Alright, this is so exciting!" Crowned exclaimed, barely being able to keep his excitement under control.

After the classes...

"I'm so bored!" Crowned exclaimed, in a way that almost seemed like his life was leaving his body, "I want to go home, I want to play videogames, I want to take a bath, I want to have some chocolate, I want-"

"CROWNED, CAN YOU STOP NAGGING?! IT'S BEEN BARELY FIVE MINUTES!" Dizzy scolded his friend, as they left the classroom.

"Sorry, it's just that in Cry-" a simple stare from Dizzy was enough for him to rearrange his words. "I mean, in my other school I usually ran to my home as soon as the bell rang."

"I get it, I get it. But you said you'd have no problems staying till later, so stop complaining!"

Feeling ashamed, Crowned crawled towards a corner and snuggled himself there.

"Ugh, how about going to the bathrooms to clean your face or maybe go drink some water? Maybe that'll help you relax."

"Okay, okay, just don't scold me," the boy said as he stood up again.

Crowned then left to the bathrooms and washed his face up, and before returning with his friend decided to take some water. But then, just as he was taking a sip from the water fountain, he happened to hear a nearby conversation from one of the rooms at the side.

"...and that's why we need to do something about that bloody place, Principal Celestia!" said a female voice with a recognizable Trottingham-ish accent, "I plea you to read this, examine everything on it and..."

"Yes, yes, I understand your problem, but you shouldn't get this angry, Miss Melody," a more mature voice responded, which any student could easily identify as that of Principal Celestia.

"But I am because this is clearly unfair," the other voice said, "It's an injustice that one has to spend all day, from morning to evening studying and doing homework, just so a bunch of shameless students go and sell the same homework and get better grades than one's hard work!"

"I understand your frustration," the principal responded calmly, "but those students are already ruining their own lives that way. You shouldn't bother with them, besides an honest 8 is something to be more proud than a 10 that someone just stole."

"BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!!!" the angry tone of the student surprised Crowned so much that curiosity took the best of him and approached the room as they still had their conversation. "And if you know so much about this, why haven't you done anything in regards to it?!"

"And who said I haven't done anything?" the tone on the Principal was still a calm one, but it definitively showed a sign of frustration.

"THE FACT THEY ARE STILL DOING IT!!!"

"Miss Melody," the Principal said, still calmly but clearly showing a bit of anger, "do not raise your voice again, or I'll be forced to suspend you."

Feeling herself insulted and frustrated, the student groaned and left the room. Crowned realized it and put himself against the wall, hoping he wasn't noticed. That's when he saw the student leaving the classroom: An elegant black hairstyle similar to a pompadour, a purple jacket over a white shirt with a pink bow, with a figure worthy of a high-class person, the girl was something he had never seen before, at least in front of him. Although he didn't say anything, the girl noticed him standing near the wall, but gave him no importance and left. Crowned was amazed by what he just saw.

"W-Who is she?" he asked to himself, only to find someone answering his question.

"Octavia Melody, one of the best students in Canterlot High, and you, Mr. "Nosey"?

"Oh, I am CrooooOOOH SH-"

Before he could even finish cursing, the Principal grabbed the student and pulled him to her office. Offering him a seat, the teacher then explained things to him.

"Well, so you're one of the new students, right Mr. Crowned?" she said with care.

"Y-Yes, I am," Crowned responded nervously, unsure what was going to happen.

"Usually I try to introduce myself with newcomers personally all through the week, and since you were pretty close by I thought it could be nice to do so right not." The principal extended her hand to the crowned boy, as she gave her introduction. "So welcome Crowned, I'm Principal Celestia, I really hope you enjoy our school."

"Oh, thank you for telling me," he responded relieved, shaking her hand vigorously, "Honestly I was worried that you-"

"Okay, enough with the formalities, what were you doing spying on our conversation?"

Crowned froze in fear after knowing Celestia was aware of what he did, before trying to excuse himself with some tears on his face.

"I WASN'T SPYING YOU, IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT THERE WAS A WATER FOUNTAIN NEARBY!!!"

"It's not close enough for you to be aside from the door," the Principal remarked, to which Crowned had to apologize.

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again."

The principal looked at him doubtfully, not sure if believing him.

"Tell me... did you come here to spy on me?" she asked bluntly, shocking the already scared student.

"ME?!"

"Who's to say that you didn't join the students running that Corner of Gossips?"

Crowned tried to respond, his nervousness taking the best of him, until he got a hold of himself at least until he responded.

"I COULD NEVER DO THAT!" he exclaimed loudly, "Besides, why could I do so?! I thought you were going to do something about it!"

"Every time I try to approach the, somehow they hear and I don't how they do it so fast but they always hide," the principal explained calmly. "Perhaps they heard about some 'changes' that will be going on in the school and are scared that their business might fall apart so that's why they sent you to spy me."

"I'm telling you that I really don't know what you're talking about!"

Crowned was getting really nervous, enough for Celestia to erase any suspects of him actually lying. She let out a friendly giggle and tried to sit in a more comfortable way for her to speak with the boy, but when she reclined over his desk, she accidentally snapped two buttons from her shirt, slightly exposing her cleavage.

"Oh dear goodness..." she exclaimed as she blushed immensely, "I'll have to take this to get tailored... again."

Crowned remained speechless, surprised by the unexpected situation and feeling aroused just by seeing the principal's exposed cleavage.

"As I was saying, I'm not your enemy, Crowned," Celestia said calmly, oblivious of what Crowned was looking at. “Just tell me the truth: You're with them, aren't you?"

"O-Of course not!" he managed to say, just thinking to himself about the pair in front of him. "Oh dear, is she really... I NEVER KNEW THEY COULD BE THAT BIG!"

"Well, if you're not one of them... perhaps you could help me lending me a hand, please?" The Principal leaned over her desk, inadvertively showing more her immense buxom, making Crowned feel even more conflicted as he gulped in fear of saying something that he shouldn't.

"Uhm... I'd just say that's a really bad idea and I..."

"Come on, Crowned. I could reward you for it." The way Celestia said those words, plus the already revealing gaze in front of him, had Crowned to the brink of breaking down and saying something that he might've ended up regretting, if it wasn't for the familiar voice that entered the room.

"Ehem, Principal Celestia, what is going on?"

"Oh thank goodness, Miss Raven!" Crowned exclaimed relieved that someone came to "save" him.

The teacher approached to him and carried her dearest student away from Celestia.

"There are better ways to spy on those guys, you know?" Raven said annoyed, suspecting the Principal was doing all of it on purpose.

"Miss Raven, you gotta understand," she began to say, despite not knowing what exactly Raven implied she was doing, "I need to know why they hide so fast. I don't even know who they are and if directly spied on them I could be breaking several privacy rules."

"And that's why you're using those tricks on Mr. Crowned?" Raven added unamused, much to the surprise of the Principal.

"Uh, what tricks?" Celestia responded with legit obliviousness, "I was just getting more comfortable, usually they speak more when I talk kindly with them. How do you think Luna managed to get those bullies from last time? Besides, you're one to talk when there are rumors that you have a new 'favorite' student."

Raven and the Principal stared at each other for a couple of seconds, before she decided to leave along with Crowned. Celestia meanwhile took again her seat and continued with some paperwork, still thinking about something that irked her.

"Ok, but seriously... why did she say that? What did she mean with 'tricks'?" she repeated to herself, still as innocent as she was.

Once they were outside the office, Raven began to talk with her student, trying to explain some things.

"I'm sorry for this, Mr. Crowned," she apologized, "the Principal can be a bit clumsy sometimes."

"D-Don't worry about that," the student responded, covering his crotch as subtly as he could.

"She's been working on something, but at the same time she's trying to catch the owners of the Corner of Gossips with 'proof' so that she doesn't have angry parents complaining about their sons being expelled unfairly."

"I can see that," the boy said more calmly, "Has she already spoken with her sister?"

"Celestia doesn't talk too much with Luna, I'm afraid," Raven said concerned, "I believe their relationship has become kinda tense, I mean, they're sisters and those things tend to have moments like these, but I feel it's also because Luna seems paranoid for some reason."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... oh goodness." The teacher stopped for a moment, making sure no one else was near to pay attention. "I should not tell but... sorry, but this is a topic for grown-ups only."

"Don't worry, I can keep a secret," Crowned winked at the teach in a friendly way, "But if you don't wanna tell me, its ok. Also, I'm already an adult."

"Hmhmhm, I don't doubt that." Feeling a bit of confidence on the boy, Raven took a folded sheet from between the papers she was carrying, and put it in his pocket. "I'm sure this will tell you want you need. Just be careful, I don't want my 'favorite student' to get in more problems."

While smiling, the teacher still showed a bit of nervousness about what she had done, although seeing her student smile kindly reassured that it was something she couldn't regret. Crowned meanwhile took out the paper, and noticed a small sentence written on it: "About The Day That Didn't Happen." But just as he was about to unfold it, he heard a familiar voice coming close.

"CROWNED!!!"

Suddenly finding himself being yanked by Dizzy, the boy with the crown barely had time to react and just gasped in confusion, to which his friend said:

"Where were you? They are already there!"

"Wait, who's where?" Crowned asked confused, a bit to the annoyance of his pale friend.

"THEM!!! You know who."

"Oooh right! Let's go!"

Finally getting what he meant, the two boys made their way to the aforementioned Corner, and when they arrived, their jaws almost dropped from the surprise: "the Corner of Gossips turned out to be far wider and elaborated than what they thought. Some students were already checking the improvised 'shops', selling from snacks, photocopies of documents, stationer's shops, most of them made out of the wide open lockers.

"Oh my goodness, this place is huge!" Crowned said surprised by all of it.

"I was told many things from this place," Dizzy replied, in utter disbelief, "but man, this is even sickening!"

"Well, I guess we should-"

"WAIT!" Before his friend could even move one step ahead to the crowd of students, Dizzy grabbed his arm and stopped him right in his tracks. "We can't just go in there like that! We need to cover our faces."

"Wait, do we?"

"Crowned, this place is INFAMOUS," Dizzy explained to his friend. "If Celestia or another teacher finds out we've been here, we're screwed! Please put something and cover your face."

"Uuuh, well about that," Crowned hesitated to say it yet had no other excuse, "I don't have anything to use as a disguise."

"Use this, then." From behind them, a curious looking boy wearing thick black glasses and a jacket with a hoodie covering most of his face approached the guys, giving Crowned a similar gray jacket.

"A jacket?" he remained a bit surprised by this hooded figure, until he managed to catch a bit of blue hair on him. "Flash, is that you?"

"I told you I could help," Flash slightly raised his hood, showing the already familiar face to his friends, "Just try to keep a low profile, ask what you need to ask, and run away."

"Okay, we'll do so. You don't have to worry, Flash-o."

"D-Don't call me like that!" even with the hoodie, one would've noticed the luminescent red cheek he got from that, "I'll be watching from afar. Good luck, guys."

Flash distanced himself to not raise suspicion, while Crowned and Dizzy hid their backpacks and put on their disguises. Crowned put on the gray hoodie and covered his face, while Dizzy changed his shirt and wore a pair of large glasses with big fake eyelashes, a giant nose, and even a fake moustache.

"Uhm, Dizzy?" Crowned asked, weirded out by his friend's choice of disguise.

"It's the best way to cover up my face, shut up," he retorted.

"Oh okay, I get it. So... let's go."

The two of them then walked into the strange 'black market' that was the infamous Corner. As they walked through the many improvised shops they noticed how they used scientific calculators along with small toolboxes as cash registers, others using multiuse backpacks to show their products, others were selling backpacks that were found forgotten in classrooms... It was like being in a different world.

"Wow, they didn't lie when they said this was like a market," Crowned said in awe, only to notice Dizzy was missing. "...Dizzy?"

Suddenly, he heard someone munching some chips behind him, only to turn around and see it was his friend.

"...Don't judge me, there was a snack shop and I was hungry," he replied, leering at him.

"Uhm, can you at least give me some?"

Dizzy shared some of his chips to his friend, as they noticed that almost everyone in the Corner was wearing outfits to cover their appearances.

"I see, so the deeper we go, the trickier they are," Crowned concluded, judging by how more complex the disguises became.

"It seems so," his friend responded, still looking around the different 'shops', only to be surprised by a particular being.

"Hey you! You look like new faces around here!"

Turning their heads, they noticed a strange fellow waving at them. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, a brown hoodie and a bandana covering his mouth. The two of them approached to the strange boy, who introduced himself.

"You may call me Shady Guy, and I'm the founder of this place," he said while shaking their hands, "Can you please tell me your... names?"

"Oh, I am-"

"Shush, my friend!" Shady Guy interrupted Crowned, and giggled a little bit, "Before that, you better think on a nickname. You don't want to get in troubles in here. Maybe rumors about you might spread, heheheh."

"He's got a point," Dizzy said, before 'introducing' himself, "You may call me Marx then."

"And I'm... Uhh..." Dizzy's friend, however, had a bit of more problems coming up with a nickname, and decided to go with the first thing that came to mind. "I-I-I-I am... M-Magolor!"

Dizzy turned to his friend, with an expression that just screamed "really?!", and even Shady Guy raised an eyebrow after such an odd nickname.

"H-HEY, IT WAS THE FIRST THING I WAS REMINDED OFF!" he tried to excuse himself, promptly the other two boys to facepalm in disapproval.

"Whatever, just follow me."

Shady Guy guided the both of them to a wide "shop" covered by curtains, and a table at the other side of them.

"Take a seat, fellas. Make yourself at home."

The boys entered the curious place, as Dizzy noticed how detailed it was.

"This looks pretty elaborated. Are you from the sewing club perhaps?" Dizzy said sarcastically.

"No, but there are rumors about people from that club working around here," Shady said in a smug way.

"W-Where are we exactly?" the crowned boy asked nervously.

"This is my shop, The Foundation," Shady replied as he took a seat, "Here I don't sell material stuff and I don't expect to be paid in cash. No, what I sell are rumors, and I get paid with more gossip in exchange."

"Oooh, so that's how the rumors are born!"

"They are not 'born' here, my friend," he explained to Crowned. "Like I said, they're spread. I tell gossips, secrets and rumors, and I'm paid with the same. Well, sometimes they make other kinds of favors for my job."

"And what do you win with that?" Crowned asked more curious about Shady.

"Just pleasure. Everybody gives me some commission for letting them work around here, as you know, rumors attract people like you two."

"Wait, is that why you called us here?" Dizzy asked while getting more cautious.

“Yep," he said bluntly, "I recognize new curious people and I always bring them to my shop first, so tell me: Are you interested in a rumor?"

Recognizing this as a moment for finally getting what they wanted, Crowned tried to speak.

"Well, I've heard that..."

"WAIT WAIT..." Shady interrupted the boy again, "Just so you trust me, I'll give you a free rumor: Did you know that after one of the teachers quitted, he had to sign a confidentiality card so that he couldn't go report any government about 'the incident'? Why do you think Miss Raven became a teacher?"

"...I hate to admit that makes a lot of sense," Dizzy said, completely shocked when he remembered how out of the blue was to see the former secretary now working as a teacher.

"Ok, that's nice to know. Now..." With a determined look on his face, Crowned stared directly to Shady, and proceeded, "I need you to tell me about the ghosts."

Hearing him mention that, made Shady lower his glasses a bit, just to look at them more clearly. Dizzy started to feel a bit unnerved about it, but quickly calmed when their host simply stood up to put even thicker curtains around the shop.

"You know, most people come looking for more polemic stuff," he stated, still giving his back to the guys, "who is Rarity's boyfriend of the week, who's the school's most desired girl, who probably underwent a surgery, that kind of stuff; yet when I offer them those rumors, they keep telling me those are very... infantile, like they've forgotten what happened not long ago. But you... you just came here to hear those rumors."

Shady turned around, and while they couldn't see his face, Dizzy felt like he was being stared down.

"Well... will you tell us?"

"Hell no!" he exclaimed in a serious tone, "If you want to know for the reasons I think you do, you'll be putting in risk not only my business, but the whole school again!"

"Oh come on! Just tell us what you know!"

"Listen to me, if only you could have the juiciest of all rumors, I might... ignore whatever you do and tell you thinking 'nothing is gonna happen'. But the less I want is to lose this job."

Dizzy, feeling a lot more annoyed and sickened at how Shady Guy was more worried about his dirty job, he stood up and spoke right to his face.

"Alright, you want gossip!? I'LL GIVE YOU GOSSIP! Did you know Flash is-"

"Already know that, pretty boring," Shady said unfazed, making Dizzy lose confidence.

"Uuuuh, Norman-"

"Is in the dictionary, and that is true."

"But Cheer-"

"She's with one of her students. I know that and more, buddy."

Feeling defeated, Dizzy sat next to his friend, and looked at him desperately.

"Any help, 'Magolor'?"

Crowned tried to think of something fresh, but the thing he came up with was very risky and could put him in more trouble, yet he felt it was somewhat necessary.

"How about Celestia?"

Shady reacted in shock and looked right at him, his eyes so wide open they were almost visible over the glasses.

"What do you know about her?"

"Oh, that means you don't know something about her?"

"Buddy, you have nothing..." he said, almost to the point of laughter, "Nobody, and I really mean NOBODY that has ever tried to get something out of the Principal stays in school to spread the world. All of them are either goody two-shoes that say nothing, or end up expelled. They try to get close to her, but Celestia catches them and expels them, there are no rumors about her. Nobody knows anything from her beyond what one can see in front of her!"

"But what if I tell you something more from her?" Crowned said overconfidently.

"Shush!" Dizzy tried to shut his friend's mouth, scared that he was just bluffing, "Are you sure you have something? I mean, this guy doesn't seem trustworthy, and if you lie to him-"

"Oh, I'm not lying, 'Marx'," he claimed with security as he turned again towards Shady, "Just smell me, Shady."

"...I don't know what has been said about me, but I don't spin that way," he responded in utter confusion.

"Come on, just smell me!"

Shady simply rolled his eyes and took a good sniff from the boy, catching a recognizable perfume.

"Hmm, this is... I believe it's Miss Raven's... so that means you're her favorite student, 'Magolor'?"

"Are you sure it's only Raven's?

Dizzy looked unamused to his friend, still annoyed that the teacher liked his friend a lot while he couldn't catch a break. Meanwhile Shady smelled him once again, and this time he caught a different perfume.

"Wait, this is... It smells like..." Dizzy could've sworn that he saw his eyes popping up from above his glasses. Shady grabbed Crowned by his shoulders and shook him rapidly in excitement. "HOW WHEN AND WHERE?! HOW DIDN'T SHE EVEN PUT YOU ON DETENTION! Everybody that ended up being caught spying on her was interrogated, put on detention and/or plainly getting expelled!"

"Well, you have one of those exceptions," Crowned answered proudly, as Dizzy once again growled at his luck.

"You damned lucky son of a-" he coughed briefly, before returning to the topic. "But at least you got something so that this guy spills out those rumors?"

"YES, MY FRIEND! TELL ME, WHAT IT IS?!" Shady seemed to be overjoyed to know whatever Crowned had to say.

"Oh nonononono, you first," he demanded, "I need to know three things. One: Why did all those guys got expelled? Two: EVERYTHING you know about those ghosts. Three: Whatever you have related to Vice-Principal Luna."

"...You're asking for too much." Shady said coldly, only for Crowned to get the big guns.

"Have I told you about Celestia's method of 'interrogation'?"

Despite his bandana, it was easy to recognize he was grinning widely.

"Alright, you win."

Shady brought up a bag full of papers and notes, and from it he picked up a notebook and placed it on the table near Crowned.

"First of all, those guys were my 'assistants'," he began explaining, "They were good disguising themselves, and when the business was blooming, I was usually requested with rumors about the Principal, especially from those who had a grudge against her. So, I sent my assistants to try and spy on her, but somehow they were always caught red-handed, and after being interrogated they either stopped coming here altogether or just said they were expelled. The problem was that I never saw them again, for one reason or another, and I only managed to get in contact with one of them, who told me she kept asking about my operations. But since I never tell my real name to anyone, she got nothing, and every attempt to stop this place has been in vain. I've heard some of those guys were even reported to the authorities and that's why I never saw them again."

"Interesting," Crowned said, making sure to remember all he was saying, "Now, about the ghosts."

"Okay, that's a bit longer but I'll just tell that, with time, ever since that 'Day that Didn't Happen", many rumors have surfaced, all of them with many things in common... Okay, maybe a lot in common, I call them the 'Seven Mysteries of CHS."

Shady opened his notebook on certain pages, showing them the rumors he had placed on paper.

"1.- The Shadows of Canterlot: Ever since that day, they have appeared all over the school, Many say that at first the appearances were few, thinking of them as simple pranks. They usually appeared at night, but with time more people saw them even in broad light, and negate their existence afraid that something 'that day' might happen. But the rumors say that they only appear at certain places in particular: Some claim to have spotted them looking over the Great Apple Tree in the fields; others have caught glimpse of them near the Principals Office; one particular classroom in maintenance has been said to be haunted by them; others have heard them in the basements; some even say there are shadows at the top of the school's clock tower and that they're the cause the main bell hasn't been fixed; and finally, they say that even this Corner is filled with them, but that's a mystery of its own.

2.- The Ghost Symphony: In the nights, it's been said by those who have stayed until late, that a strange melody nobody has heard before can be heard from the music room. It's neither a classic nor a modern song from what is said, but it appears like the Shadows don't like to hear it, and it's claimed they run away as soon as it plays. The rumor says that it's the spirit of an old music teacher who's repelling the evil spirits with their song.

3.- The School Spirit: In front of our school, where the statue of the school's mascot lies, every certain moon cycle, the shadows take on physical forms and absorb something from it until the first beams of the sun makes them retreat to the school. Some claim that they're stealing the "School's Spirit" and feeding on it. Sappy, but it's the only explanation so far.

4.- The Incomplete School: This place might be huge, one of the biggest schools in the city, but have you noticed how smaller it is on the inside? Apparently, there used to be a middle school division of the school, but the old administration cancelled the classes after going through budget problems, and that section of the school was covered with walls so no one could pass there. Yet some people say there is still a way to enter those parts of the school, even some claiming that's where the shadows come from.

5.- The Ancient Tree: The apple tree of the school is pretty old, and it's said that it was planted by the founder of the school herself with the aid of the old Granny Smith from the Apple family. There are some people claiming it has "spiritual" properties, and that the shadows avoid going near this tree. It's even said that the apples the tree gives are the tastiest of them all and that can protect from bad luck and evil spirits.

6.- The Sewing Workshop: Long ago the Sewing club had a really big workshop, since the majority of the women got into said club. But with time that trend died out, but it was more noticeable in this school, and those who remained claimed that they could hear haunting noises. The rumors say the principal thought it was the echo produced by the now near-empty classroom, but because it made everyone feel unnerved it was closed, and the classroom was sealed since the budget problem didn't let the workshop to be transformed into different classrooms. Some people say that place is nearby here, due to the odd lack of classrooms, and even claim to hear the same haunting noises as those infested by the shadows.

7.- The Shadow Lord: Interestingly, it's been said lately that there's a dark being commanding the shadows, and that has even threatened some students, making them miss some classes due to fear of finding him. Other people claim that it bears a strange resemblance to Flash Sentry, with crazier rumors saying he was the one who cursed Sunset with her dark powers, but there are no proof of such thing since everyone is so afraid to investigate.

"Wow..." Crowned exclaimed impressed, "This is really complex."

"And now that we're even, could you kindly tell me about Cel-"

"Oh nonono!" Dizzy interrupted Shady, looking a bit more confident, "You still need to tell us about the Vice-Principal."

"Ugh, fine!" Shady cleared his throat and spoke, "There are rumors that say that our Vice-Principal Luna has some personal issues with her sister, and even claim she suffers depression."

"How?"

"There are those who say that she gets even punishing people, but that's her job, and just punishes those she feels "deserve it". She has tried to bring down this business more times than Celestia, but lately she hasn't bothered showing up here. Luna isn't precisely the most "beloved", a lot of students feel she is very strict, and everyone prefer Celestia because, well... she has some BIG charms, if you catch my drift. But Luna? She's among the most unpopular teachers in school, and she knows it. Apparently she tends to argue a lot with Celestia, speaking about something she wants to do but Luna doesn't because 'it might attract the government" and everyone agrees that's the least we want after 'that day', so there's that."

Crowned reflexed about what he was just been told, and remembered the paper Raven gave to him. Taking it out, he began to read it, only to find an equally detailed description about the events that unfolded 'that day'.

"The Day that Didn't Happen"

Not long ago, during the Annual Fall Formal Prom, a strange event took by surprise the school. One of the students, Sunset Shimmer, used an artifact resembling a crown, which caused her to undergo a strange transformation. The only way to describe it is that she became a 'She-Demon', who used what can only be described as magic to turn two of the students, Snips and Snails, into similar demonic beings, as well as mind controlling the students to do her bidding. Yet somehow, one of the students known as Twilight Sparkle, who three days prior to the events had no registers inside the school records and whose only matching information came from Crystal Prep, was able to use the same artifact and imbued a positive magic over other five students, giving them pony-shaped ears, long horse tails and even wings on some of them. The students, registered as Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, used this magical power and reverted Sunset Shimmer and those imbued by her dark magic to her original human form, dispersing the magic away from her and releasing everyone from her control. Aware that if the Government knew about the incidents surrounding the day of the Formal they could come to investigate the school, and even take away some of our students, the school as a whole has agreed to never talk about the incidents that happened said day, referencing them simply as "The Day that Didn't Happen".

"This is... really strange and complicated," Crowned said after reading the sheet of paper.

"What do you mean with that?" Shady asked intrigued.

"T-This legends, Luna and Celestia's attitude, the events of that day, it's... sorta strange everything happens just here. Usually schools have like one or two urban legends, not nearly ten and all of them with this supernatural veil."

"You know, I have my own theory about it," Shady commented as he took a seat in front of him, "I believe there is a secret in this school, and a very dark one. Something happened that 'Day that didn't happen' that changed this whole place, and many think the worst had already pass... but the truth is, I still feel the worst is yet to come."

Crowned recognized that a wicked smile appeared beneath his bandana, and his somewhat sinister tone made both Dizzy and Crowned feel unnerved.

"Uhm, 'Magolor', friend?" Dizzy said quietly, "I'm not liking this a single bit."

"Me neither but..." Crowned whispered trying to calm his friend, "Maybe if we find the source of those legends, we might find said dark secret."

"Well, good for you, I don't even care," Shady said bluntly, interrupting them as he slammed his hands on the table, "NOW TELL ME ABOUT CELESTIA!"

Crowned took a deep breath, knowing what he was going to say would be nearly suicidal, but he decided to take the risk.

"Okay, you win.... You see... When Celestia interrogates the students, she... uses a particular method."

"What?" Both Shady and Dizzy said in shock.

Crowned took another deep breath and described what he saw, embellishing parts of Celestia's unique methods.

"See, she gets comfortable on her hair, letting her hair loose and even adjusting her blazer, talking to them smoothly while leaning gently towards them. BUT because of her... Gifts... Her blazer tends to break and show her cleavage, and when he leans you can see them hanging and even notice what bra she's wearing and... Well, that must be when they break and talk, and say everything she wants to know. And after that, Luna makes sure to expel them, maybe even claiming 'harassment' against them so they're thrown into a correctional institute or something."

Dizzy and Shady dropped their jaws in utter disbelief, and barely could express their thoughts.

"You damned lucky son of a-"

"You're my hero," Shady proclaimed, interrupting and shocking Dizzy.

"Excuse us?"

"You don't know what you've done for me," Shady said with a very perverted grin, scaring both guys in front of him.

Suddenly, some shouting was heard from outside the 'shop', and the boys guessed that it meant some teacher had just stumbled upon the corner.

"I THINK IT'S TIME TO RUN!" The pale boy screamed to his friend, "WE ALREADY HAVE WHAT WE NEEDED!"

"RIGHT! SHADY, THANKS FO-"

"Keep this for me," Shady said interrupting Crowned, as he gave him his notebook, "I don't think I'll need that anymore."

"W-What are you talking about?"

"Just leave..."

Crowned tried to know what Shady meant, but his friend quickly pulled him out, noticing the crowds quickly fleeing and hiding their "merchandise". As they ran back for their stuff, the boy with a crown stumbled upon a certain girl: it was the same gray student he saw speaking with Celestia, and she was also wearing a hoodie to cover her face. The two crossed surprised looks, but were cut short when Dizzy grabbed him and continued pulling him away from the scene, just noticing how the girl kept looking at him.
As they ran, the boys caught glimpse of their good friend Flash standing near an empty classroom. When they approached him, he quickly pulled them inside and closed the door, as they saw through the window how Luna and several other teachers moved to catch the 'shop owners', making the students go with them. They even recognized a still masked Shady, who didn't seem to be concerned. Crowned saw the gray girl follow the Vice-Principal very closely, smiling in satisfaction.

"Guess they were finally caught after all," Flash pointed out.

"I wonder why he didn't run like the others," Crowned said intrigued by Shady's odd behavior.

"Meh, who cares for that freaky guy?" Dizzy said bluntly as he showed his friend the notebook, "We now have his gossip notebook!"

"Wait, is that his?"

"Eeyup! Maybe it will give us an idea of why he did so."

Dizzy opened the notebook, expecting a journal of all the rumors circling around the school... and blushed intensely when he saw what was actually inside its pages. His friends noticed how red he got and took a peek, only to find out the truth: Most of the pages, save for a few containing the "Seven Mysteries" and other gossips, were filled with detailed sketches of the principal in suggestive positions if not outright naked.

"...D-Did he had a crush for Celestia?!" Flash said in shock, while Dizzy simply grinned like a fool.

"OH, SO THAT'S WHY THE IDIOT GOT HIMSELF CAUGHT! AND AFTER WHAT YOU TOLD HIM..." the pale boy bursted into uncontrollable laughter, just thinking about what Shady was about to do, and how it could probably end. "CROWNED, YOU DID IT! YOU FINALLY GOT RID OF THAT CORNER OF GOSSIPS!"

"Uhm, yay?" Crowned smiled uncomfortably, not knowing how to feel about this unexpected "heroic" act.

The next day, Crowned and Dizzy arrived early to the school, only to find their pal Nolan talking through his cellphone.

"Nonono, I told dad is really busy and I'm studying at school! If you wanna leave a message, you can leave it with his secretary, ok? Bye!" hanging up his phone, the boy turned towards his friends. "What's up, guys?"

"Nolan, what were you doing?" Crowned asked a bit nervous.

"Oh you, arguing with some of dad's workers, like always," Nolan said like it was no big deal.

"Sooo.... have you heard the rumors?" despite trying to be subtle, the crowned boy was not very good at it.

"Oh right, the Corner of Gossip is done for," his friend responded like it was nothing, "Such a pity."

"...I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Because of me, you guys won't hear any more rumors and gossips."

Nolan smiled gently, and even chuckled a bit, trying to make his friend feel better.

"Nah, it's ok dude. That's what the internet is for, after all." His comment managed to make his friend smile, and so did Dizzy, who patted his back. "By the way, that 'Shady' dude that built the whole Corner? Well, she was sent directly with Celestia, and the nuts tried to nearly molest her! Because of that and after finding out he didn't even study here, he was sent to the authorities."

"DAMN, GEEZ!" both guys exclaimed, shocked to know the truth about "Shady Guy". Dizzy tried not to break into laughter again, knowing now that he ended up doing just what he suspected.

"Yup, it's just as you hear," the red haired boy commented, "The authorities offered to bring down whatever is left from the corner, but Luna said that she could handle it herself with the help of some volunteers."

"Wait, did you said volunteers?" Crowned asked, with a look on his face that his friend knew meant nothing good, at least for him.

"Crowned? Why are you smiling like that?"

Later that day, Crowned and Dizzy were cleaning the leftovers of what was the Corner of Gossips, picking up empty bags of chips and other snacks.

"Why did you had to offer us to help with this!?" the pale boy said exasperated, "Do you know how much I hate doing this 'Cinderello' stuff?"

"Did you really forget it already?" Crowned said surprised before explaining, "Shady said this was near the old sewing workshop, and if we want to get near it before they do something about it, we must find where it is."

"Oh, right!" Dizzy slapped his forehead when he remembered that, "Do you think we might find something inside Shady's locker? Perhaps he hid some clue in his 'shop'."

"Sure. You go ahead, I'll keep checking out just in case."

Dizzy then approached to the large locker, carefully opening it and going inside to look around the 'shop'. But when he was deep inside it, the locker's door closed behind him. Feeling scared, Dizzy tried to push it open, only to find the lock was now stuck.

"CROWNED, I NEED HELP!!!" he screamed, hoping for his friend to listen.

"Dizzy? What are you.." when he looked around and saw the locker's door closed, he realized what happen, "Oh Dizzy, wait for..."

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Crowned heard the voice of a girl shouting at him, and when he turned to his back he found himself in front of the same gray girl from the previous day.

"Oh, h-hi?" he said nervously, his heart racing from being face to face with her.

"I saw you here yesterday when they caught everyone," she said in a menacing voice, her expression denoting anger, "What brings you back here? Looking to erase evidence?"

"W-What are you talking about?!"

"Don't try to fool me, you're one of those guys who sold homework, and I HATE those kind of students!"

"NONONONONO, YOU'RE WRONG! I'm not here for that!" Crowned replied in shock, feeling nervous about that girl being so aggressive to him, "I'm just a volunteer. And besides, what were you doing that day here?"

"I convinced Luna to try and catch anyone she could," she explained, "I was just here to make sure everyone involved was caught, but some of them escaped from here."

The way she looked at the crowned boy made him tremble, she seemed pretty convinced that he was one of the dealers in the Corner.

"Oh, and... you came here to..."

"To check if you left something behind, before you erase all evidence."

"Please, listen to me: I'm not like them!" the boy tried to explain, "I'm actually new here! I had no idea of this Corner until yesterday!"

From the closed locker, Dizzy even raised his voice to help him.

"It's true! He's not a foolish scammer, he's just a fool!"

"Yeah, I'm... DIZZY!!!"

"Well I don't care what you said!" the girl said angrily, almost to the point of tears, "I'll report you with the Principal, maybe that will teach you to never again do this kind of unfair business!"

Crowned realized that she was still angry about the whole "homework sells" that happened on the Corner, and since some of the "shop owners" got away, she just wanted to get someone "guilty".

"...I understand you. Yeah, they sold homework here and... I recall Celestia saying you were the best student in the school."

Hearing that made the girl calm herself a little.

"Did... Did she said that?"

"Yes. I happened to hear by accident how you hated that those scammers got higher grades than you, and I understand it. That's a horrible feeling." Crowned thought back to his days in Crystal Prep, and remembered how among the most popular students they did similar deeds just to get the highest notes.

The girl said nothing in response, simply sobbing a bit.

"Listen, I'm new here and I never knew from this place until yesterday, but if it makes you feel better, you can take it out on me."

In response, she wipe the small tears on her face, and after taking a deep breath, she calmed down, adopting a more elegant pose.

"I feel like I should apologize myself," she said lowering her head in shame, "I let my anger get the best of me. M-My name is Octavia Melody, and I feel sorry for accusing you unfairly."

"Well, I'm Crowned, and as a king my duty is to keep my friends happy, and I wish to make you feel happy."

Octavia felt surprised by the gentleness of the boy, as she expected him to be angry at her.

"B-But I barely know you, and you consider myself you friend? Even after yelling at you?"

"Relax, it's nothing, really," he said with a smile, "You should see how Dizzy screams at me."

"Well I would not scream if you could get me out of here!!!" his friend screamed from inside the locker, making Octavia giggle nicely, and making her smile a bit.

"Thank you Crowned," she said while making a gentle gesture, "Well, I suppose there's not much to do but to get Dizzy out of there."

"OH THANK GOODNESS, FINALLY!" he shouted triumphally, "I'M NEARLY FEELING ASPHIXIAAAAH-!!!"

Suddenly, a loud thump was heard from deep within the locker, calling the attention of Crowned and Octavia.

"Dizzy?! What was that?!"

Crowned hurried to unlock the large locker, and to his surprise and that of his companion, they found Dizzy had felt backwards through a fake wall, right at the end of the locker.

"What is that?!" Octavia asked in surprise looking at the apparently hollow locker.

"I have no idea," Dizzy said from the other side of the "wall", which was nothing but another curtain, "but my head hurts like hell."

"Dizzy, look around you!"

The pale boy stood up, and as he looked to his surroundings he realized where he was: it looked like a classroom, with pretty old pedal sewing machines, some fabrics gathering dust, and boxes full of chips, sodas, snacks and other kinds of merchandize that were sold in the now defund Corner of Gossips.

"Wait a minute..." Octavia realized something when he saw the boxes, and her rage came back at full throttle, "THIS IS WHERE THAT BLOODY SHADY ALWAYS HID WHEN THEY CAME SEARCHING FOR HIM?! THIS WAS HIS HIDEOUT?! UUURGH, CELESTIA!!!"

Infuriated, the girl left the two guys alone as she went searching for the Principal. Meanwhile, Crowned approached to his friend, patting him on the back.

"Congratulations, you found one of the mysteries, my friend."

"Well not much a mystery," he responded, still rubbing his head to alleviate the pain, "That scumbag knew about this place and hid here, although I have the feeling neither Luna nor Celestia knew about this place."

"Well, let's seize this moment to check if there isn't any of those round stones around here."

"Uugh, okay."

The two guys inspected the place, trying to find anything suspicious, but all they found was old materials and dust, with some fresh footprints in the floor, who they guessed belonged to Shady. When they felt there was nothing important there, Dizzy took a closer look to one of the walls, feeling something strange about it. Then, he noticed a small hole on it, and against his own fear, decided to take a small peek through it. What he saw almost made him go backwards.

"C-C-C-CROWNED!!!" he shouted with a mix of excitement and a bit of fear.

"What's the matter, buddy?"

"THE SCHOOL... T-THE SCHOOL!!! IT'S RIGHT THERE!"

Dizzy pulled his friend near the wall and told him to look through it. When he did, he realized that behind that wall lied the abandoned section of the school, surrounded in darkness and with all the windows sealed.

"Damn, this place looks... utterly creepy," even he had to admit it was unsettling to look at.

"Okay, we found it, we confirmed it, can we please go now? I don't like this a single bit."

"Calm down a bit, my friend," Crowned said, still looking through the small hole, "We just look for the stone and then we... AAAAAHHH!!!"

A creepy looking eye showed itself at the other side of the hole, scaring the crowned boy and nearly dropping his signature crown.

"W-WHAT IS THAT?!" he screamed in horror, as Dizzy tried to stand him up.

From inside the hole, a strange shadow leaked down towards the boys, slowly taking a smoke-like humanoid form, extending its arms towards them. Crowned and Dizzy both screamed in fear, holding each other as they tried to keep each other away from the evil shadow. But to their surprise, nothing happened. The shadow kept extending his arms towards them, but nothing really happened. Even the shadow seemed shocked by this.

"Huh?" Crowned wondered what happened, and then he remembered, "Oh right, magic! You probably tried to drain us from it, right? Too bad we aren't magical at all!"

"Oh... Phew! That's a relief," Dizzy commented, laughing nervously, "And for this I nearly stain my pants?"

His friend quickly pushed him aside for that comment.

"Too much information, dude," he said disgusted, when suddenly he noticed something sneaking in a corner, surrounded by fabrics gathering dust.

Ignoring the shadow, which kept trying to drain the boys, Crowned pushed away the rolls of fabric to find what they were looking for.

"Well, that was easy," he said as he picked up the smooth stone, and then pointing to the exit.

The two boys began to leave, as the shadow kept trying to interfere by standing in front of them, but they passed right through it without problems.

"Oh my goodness, I never thought this could be so pathetically easy!" Dizzy said with more confidence.

"Dizzy, please don't say that, let's just go," Crowned, on the other hand, was aware that saying that was just asking for trouble.

"No, I really mean it, THEY'RE TRULT PATHETIC!" his friend continued gloating, "WHAT KIND OF GHOSTS ARE THOSE?!"

"Dizzy..."

"I mean, I have an irrational fear of ghosts, and you know you've failed in life... well, in the other life at least, when you can't even scare me for more than five minutes!"

"Dizzy, can you shut up?!" Crowned began to move faster, aware that his buddy had just done it.

"Oh come on, friend. I mean, look at it!" he said pointing at the shadow, who now had its hands over his face, trembling in a weird way, "Do you see that? He's crying! Did we really make Mr. Spooky cry?"

Before he could even apologize, the shadow extended its arms again, revealing a pair of glowing angry eyes, as a sinister aura shrouded around him. Suddenly, the door of the locker was once again closed and locked, trapping them in the darkness of the room, as the shadow began levitating the abandoned materials surrounding it, imbuing them with its dark aura.

"W-WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Dizzy shouted terrified, as Crowned looked angrily at him.

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!!!"

The shadow then used the fabrics around him to create a body for him, stitching them together with needles that it later attached to the end of its hands, giving itself a more menacing appearance.

"C-C-Crowned... maybe we should leave the stone here?" the now paler boy said to his friend, feeling his body paralyzed from fear.

"No... We won't..." Crowned tried to remain brave, but not before scolding his friend, "Also, THIS IS YOUR FAULT!!!"

The monster moved forward the boys, trying to stab them with the needles on its hands. Barely moving out of its way, the two boys ran all around the workshop, trying to get away from the dark cloth.

"MOMMYYYY!!!" Dizzy screamed at the top of his lungs as they barely kept ahead from the monster chasing behind them.

"DIZZY, WATCH OUT!"

To his surprise, a roll of fabric nearly flew right into his face, and he only managed to duck in time to also dodge the swipe from the monster. Standing up again, he and his friend tried using the sewing machines as shield, but the monster kept breaking them, getting the boys cornered. Feeling their options running out, the two grabbed each other, trembling of fear.

"CROWNED, IF I DIE, TELL MY SISTER I LOVE HER!!!" Dizzy said as he felt his life going through his eyes.

"DIZZY... You have a sister?" the crowned boy said surprised, much to the annoyance of his friend.

"NOT THE TIME FOR JOKES!!!"

As the monster pushed itself towards them, the two boys separated and nearly dodged its needles aiming at them, sticking instead to the wall. Taking advantage from this small break, the two thought about the options they had left.

"ANY IDEAS, FRIEND?"

"OK, LET ME THINK... UHM..." Crowned looked all around him, trying to come up with a plan. Most of the sewing machines were already broken, but there were still a couple intact, and he thought about using them. And he also noticed a long loose thread hanging from the back of the creature, something they could use to their favor. "Uhm, do you know how to sew, Dizzy?"

"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?!"

"Listen, I can direct that thing near one of those old sewing machines," he explained in a low voice, "I'll distract it, while you grab that thread behind him and use the machine to fray him down."

"W-WHAT KIND OF PLAN IS THAT?!" Dizzy screamed, just as the monster unstuck itself and turned towards them.

"THAT'S THE ONLY ONE I HAVE, OR DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING?!"

The two immediately dodged the monster as it charged against them, and Dizzy felt there was no other way but to follow his friend's idea.

"OK, I'll keep the stone, while you prepare the machine, ok?"

Dizzy nodded in agreement, and while he crawled towards the closest machine, his friend ran close to it, holding the stone above him.

"HEY, MISTER GHOST, YOU WANT THIS?!" he screamed, calling the monster's attention, "COME FOR IT!!!"

Falling for its taunt, the shadow rushed towards him, with the intent of stabbing the boy. Jumping away from it, the monster got stuck again, moment after which Dizzy grabbed the loose thread and quickly tied up to the machine, as he put a random piece of cloth on it to make it work.

"Alright, all set up, now... where's the damn start button?!" he looked around the old machine, looking for something to start it up, until he noticed a pedal on the floor. Pushing it, he realized it made the machine work, slowly pulling away the monster's stiches. "Oh no, this is just like my granny's... and I'm not good at pedaling."

"WELL LEARN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!" Crowned screamed, as the monster released itself and attempted to swipe at him, barely dodging as he kept him as close to the machine.

Dizzy pedaled as fast as he could, grabbing random pieces of cloth to use with the machine. But despite his pace, it was still too slow, as the monster was swiping closer to Crowned, and its stitches still held it together. Watching his friend getting cornered again, he tried using his hands instead, pushing as fast as he could, until the threads holding it almost felt apart.

"THAT'S IT! RUN, CROWNED!!!"

Seeing this at it chance, Crowned ran as fast as he could to get away from the monster, and when it tried to chase after him, the last bits of thread slowly began unstitching , being still tied to the machine, and soon the shadow's getup fell apart. It tried swiping at the boy, but when it did, it realized too late that there were no needles stuck to its hands. To make things better, Dizzy realized there was a drawer right behind it, and seizing the moment, he ran towards it and pushed it against the shadow, who couldn't even react as the drawer fell over it, dispersing the creature into nothingness.

"Aahhh... Dear goodness... well done, Dizzy," Crowned tried to recover his breath, still holding the stone firmly in his hands.

"Thanks... ouch... my arms are killing me," the pale boy cried, tired from pushing the pedal at high speeds.

"Quick, let's get out of here before more of those things come closer."

Feeling like things could get uglier, the two guys ran back to the locker, forcing it open with a couple of good kicks between both of them. Thankfully they managed to break out moments before Octavia arrived followed by the Principal, noticing the footprints of dust that the two left after leaving in a rush.

"What in the world got into those guys?" She wondered, unaware that she might've just got herself tangled into the same mess those two were in.

END OF CHAPTER.

Author's Note

OH BOY! This sure took its sweet time. I apologize for the long break between chapters, I had a bit of a hard time translating this chapter. Between losing my Internet for a week and then lots of work, and not to mention the lenght of this chapter it sure was a lot of hard work for me.

I apologize for the lenght, by the way, but this was the intended way. I hope you enjoyed this little mess and continue to enjoy, in whatever way you do, this little tale of two dummies getting into troubles.

Ch3: Night At The School

The next day after their little incident inside the old workshop, Dizzy and Crowned brought the stone to Flash, slowly explaining what happen-

"-AND THEN THE SHADOW BECAME THIS MONSTER..."

"-IT WAS SO SCARY AND HAD RUSTY NEEDLES FOR CLAWS... "

"-DIZZY RAN IN CIRCLES LIKE A MANIAC..."

"-CROWNED KEPT YELLING AT ME AND THAT JUST STRESSED ME OUT..."

"GUYS, GUYS, SLOW DOWN! ONE AT A TIME!" Flash screamed, stopping his friends' crazy rants.

The two boys took a moment to breath and regain their composure, and then they told their friend what happened.

"Well, we went to the Corner after they expelled everyone from there, and we found that inside Shady's locker there was a fake wall that Dizzy went through, and he found the infamous lost Sewing Workshop, there we found the stone and-"

"-AND THEN A SHADOW APPEARED AND PUT FABRICS AND NEEDLE-CLAWS ON ITSELF AND TRIED TO RIP US APART!" Dizzy screamed in panic, "ONLY THE GODS KNOW HOW WE GOT OUT OF THAT, BUT I DON'T WANNA DO IT AGAIN!"

Flash was shocked to hear about their misadventure, thinking about it for a second.

"So, that shadow attacked you physically?" he asked in surpise, "Well, I sure didn't see that one coming."

"THEN YOU SHOULD'VE!!!" Dizzy grabbed his friend and shook him violently.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH, CALM DOWN!" Flash said in response, pushing himself free from the pale boy, "Look, the Shadows never attacked anybody before, they just stood there watching, they didn't attack, just... scared people away. They only had effects over Sunset and the others, I think they saw that you were a "threat" to them and decided to attack using physical methods to hurt you."

"OH GREAT, AND NOW WHAT?!" Dizzy asked terrified, "IF WE KEEP SEARCHING FOR THOSE THINGS, THEY'LL KEEP ATTACKING US!"

Flash thought about it for a moment, trying to answer his friend, when suddenly Rarity and Applejack arrived, talking about something they had been planning.

"...And she also has done theatrical productions back where she came from," the white girl was telling her friend, "She's just so cute! I'm sure that she will be perfect for DIz-"

Suddenly, the two girls realized that Dizzy and Crowned were still talking to Flash, and were taken by surprise.

"AAH!!! H-HEY GUYS!" Rarity said nervously, hoping that they didn't hear them talking.

"Flash, we thought tha' they just gave y'ah the stone and left," Applejack remarked, as Crowned once again nearly drooled over her presence.

"Well, I-"

"HOLD IT!" Dizzy interrupted as he approached the girls with curiosity, "What were you saying about theatricals and someone cute? What about me? What were talking about, Rarity?"

"Hey, calm down y'er horses, cowboy," Applejack said as he pushed him away, "Don' get all offensive on us."

"Nope, I heard my name, I need to know what you to are planning exactly?!"

Flash has to pull him away from the girls, worried that he would blow up the surprise.

"Buddy, relax, it's probably just a bunch of girl talk. Don't worry about it."

"But I'm not su-"

"BY THE WAY..." Crowned said interrumpting the situation, as he brought up the stone they got, "Here's the second stone."

The girls approached to him and saw it closely. Rarity examinated more closely, and noticed the "diamond" mark that she had with her, usually stamped on her clothes.

"Oooh, what a nice gentleman you are, Crowned. Thank you," she said as she grabbed the stone.

Suddenly, just like with the first one, it began to shine, as it began to transform from the cold grey stone into a golden necklace with a blue aquamarine in the shape of three diamonds.

"AHAHAHAH, YES!!!" Rarity laughed in joy as she put on the newly made necklace, looking at it from every angle, "Oooh, and it even matches my outfit!"

Everyone else around her fell backwards at her somewhat silly commentary.

"That's our Rarity, alrigh'," Applejack said as she stood up again, "As happy as a new car on an old road."

"Uhum, whatever. Can we leave now?"

"What, you have a class to attend, buddy?" Crowned asked to his friend.

"No, I meant LEAVE THIS MESS!" Dizzy responded, still terrified out of his mind, "I don't wanna continue on this suicide mission!"

"But Dizzy, what about that thing you..."

"I MADE THAT THING LONG AGO AND IT WAS FOR SOMETHING SAFER THAN THIS!" he exclaimed, interrupting his friend, "I NEVER THOUGHT SHE COULD USE IT TO MAKE ME YOUR PARTNER IN A DEATHLY MISSION! I THOUGHT HE COULD SAVE IT FOR... well... you know... something more lewd."

"DIZZY!" Crowned scolded his friend and slapped him on the forehead.

"ARGH!" he shouted, and directing to Flash he apologized, "Flash, sorry, I cannot continue with this. I don't wanna risk my life for a collection of rocks."

"But Dizzy, we have no cho-"

"Y'ah were goin' to say 'No Choice'?" Applejack interrupted, rising her voice, "Because A'h don't know about y'ah, but we're now two who have our elements, and A'h think we can use them against those shadows."

"I don't know, my dear," Rarity responded to her friend's suggestion, "I don't know how to use them yet, and we have no idea if having them will prevent the shadows from attacking us."

"Well, it's true I was thinking about it and..." Flash turned towards his own friends, and bluntly said, "Maybe we don't need Crowned nor Dizzy after all."

"WHAT?!" Crowned was shocked to hear that.

"Two of the girls already got their elements, and they contain the power that could help destroy the shadows and go for the other elements without any problem. If it was only one, it would've been risky to encounter those shadows, but with two of them I think it's worth a shot."

"OH, THANK YOU FLASH!" Dizzy said with joy as he hugged his friend, "FINALLY! THEN I CAN LEAVE WITH ANY REMORSE!"

"B-But... I wanted to help" the crowned boy said disappointed that he could no longer be helpful to them.

"Well, maybe you can..."

Flash interrupted himself when he noticed Sunset was walking towards them. Realising she was close, Dizzy got all nervous, fully aware that maybe wanting to get out of the mission wasn't a great way to impress her.

"AAAHHH, SUNSET! Heh heh heh, uhm... Well, I... I wanted to..."

"Keep your comments to yourself, Dizzy. I heard well how you wanted to break the contract." Sunset said abruptly, with a tone of certain dissapointment to the boy.

"IT WAS JUST A...." Dizzy stopped talking when he realized Sunset was looking very disapproving to him, and toned himself down, "It was something I did when I was two years younger, don't take it too seriously, please."

Sunset stared at him thoughtfully, and after a few seconds she said:

"Oh okay, but..." suddenly, she smiled mischiefully, something that surprised the pale boy, "I think think you should leave us, Dizzy. Not when we organized something for you."

"Wait... WHAT?!" Dizzy was taken by surprise by her comment.

"Oh, it's nothing. It was something that we had planned to do as a'reward' for stopping being so... bitter and helping me and your 'mortal' enemies."

"You know? It's been a while that I almost forgot what they did to you," Dizzy realized, surprised by how much his own anger against the girls had vanished in the past two days.

"Dizzy, they didn't do any harm to me, they simply helped me out," she pointed out, despite him already figuring that out, "And since you're already helping us now, can you please continue with it while I teach them how to use their elements?"

Seeing the girl he always had a crush on talk to him gently, and with a sweet look on her eyes, Dizzy had a change of heart and decided t stay.

"I.... I... Okay, I'll do it."

"Thanks you, Dizzy!" Sunset said with a smile, making the boy blush like a tomato.

"Hey, wait a second, you have something for him but not for me?!" Crowned felt slightly jealous of his friend's luck.

"Shush, calm down suga'cube," Applejack responded to him, causing him to blush in an instant,, "If y'ah need something, just tell us, A'h think y'ah deserve it."

"...W-whatever I want?"

"Sure, just tell us what y'ah wa-"

"IWANTADATEWITHYOU!" From the two students, Crowned was only a shade redder than Applejack.

A very uncomfortable silence filled the room, and Rarity just looked at the really awkward situation going on, internally laughing but without losing her cool, intrigued by the scene.

"C-Crowned... do y'ah really... want that?" AJ said, barely being able to talk from the shock.

"Y-Yeah..."

Applejack looked very conflicted and nervous, and had no choice but be a little blunt about it.

"Crowned, A'h... A'h could go with y'ah to the movies or have some dinner, but..." she took a deep breath and continued, "A'h rather tell you this now: A'hm not interested in having a boyfriend right now. Sorry, suga'hcube, A'h hope y'ah understand."

The boy remained in silence, still with his eager smile, trying to process her answer, finally saying.

"I... I understand perfectly. [INTERNALLY CRYING AND SCREAMING] "

Crowned simply stepped back, taking a sit with an emotionless expression, just smiling and trying to keep a "happy" face.

"W-Well, uhm..." Flash tried to make the situation less awkward and broke the ice, "Dizzy, Crowned? Could you come tomorrow to the gym after classes? It's just to... discuss business."

"Sure, it's fine," Dizzy said, still noticing his friend petrified on his seat, "Uhm... I'll take him with me if it doesn't bother you."

He then grabbed poor Crowned and dragged him out of the room, leaving an already embarrased Applejack in company of Flash and her friends.

"Oh dear, Applejack, how does it feel to have an admirer and having to break his heart?"

"RARITY!!!" Applejack exclaimed, herface absolutely red, "A'H... A'H JUST TOLD 'IM THAT A'H HAD NO INTEREST AT THE MOMENT, NOT THAT I WOULDN'T BE HIS GIRLFRIEND!"

"OOOHHH! That means you'll reconsider?" her friend said with an teasing expression, only bothering her even more.

"RARITY!!!"

"Girls, girls" I think it's better you should go to the lab," Flash had to interrupt before things got uglier, "the sooner you learn about those necklaces, the sooner we'll get out of this problem."

The two girls then left the room, Applejack still frowning at Rarity's remarks. As soon as they left, Sunset let out a noticeable sigh, and looked really concerned about something. Flash noticed his friend's attitude and approached to her.

"Sunset?"

"Yes, Flash?" she asked, snapped out of her thoughts.

"I don't think you'll have to stress now," he began to say. "At least we have two of the six elements now."

"Yes, I know about that, but if they don't learn soon, we'll have to relay on Crowned and Dizzy, yet..." Sunset sighed again and turned towards her old friend, "I don't wanna do that. I don't want Dizzy to fall back again into his 'bitter' self, ever since he's friends with Crowned his behavior improved a lot."

"I know, I know, I trust they're gonna make it, it's just..." now Flash was the one looking concerned, something Sunset wasn't expecting. "I-I'm really worried about Twilight."

"What are you talking about?"

"The last day I went visiting her at her house... she had this weird scheme on a blackboard. She told me the reason she changed to Canterlot High was because she wanted to find the "secret" of the school and..." Flash stared right into his friends eyes, looking really afraid of his thoughts. "I fear that if she discovers this she might look at you like freaks or... even sell you to science."

Sunset took a moment to think about his position, and what was worrying him, and then she answered.

"I...I understand that, but Twilight would not do that. The Twilight we met before taught me so much about friendship, and I know that if I teach that to 'our Twilight', she would be the same way she did."

"Are you sure about that? I mean, parallel universes and that, there tend to be differences."

"I'm aware but..." she thought for the right word to express her idea, and proceeded, "we must make her trust us, I know she's the only one who would use the Element of Magic."

"Right."

"Besides, I think she already trust you a lot, Flash," Sunset added with a smile, making his friend blush a new shade of red.

"Uuuh, what are you talking about?" he asked, sweating nervously and getting all flustered, as Sunset simply smiled and giggled as she responded.

"Don't play silly on me, I've noticed the way yo look at each other, how you blush when you grab her hand... And Pinkie said you've even been kissing!"

"I-IT WAS ON HER CHEEK, AND JUST THERE!!!" Flash yelled while covering her face, not that it could cover how red his face had become.

"Oh come on, you're doing a great job making her open up to everyone," she complimented her friend, as she patted him on his back, before adding, "Althought the way you're going, I'm sure you've already been french kissing."

"T-THAT'S NOT TRUE!!!" Feeling more and more embarrased, Flash even shook his hands trying to stop Sunset from saying more.

"Well it should've happened already," Sunset then glanced at him with a smug smile and said, "Maybe if I tell Twily about how sweet you used to kiss me."

"SUNSET!!!" at that point, Flash had changed from his whole skin had completely changed into a bright, red blush.

"HAHAHAHAHAH!!! OH GOODNESS, MY SILLY FLASH!" the girl laughed as she hugged her dearest friend, who still hadn't recovered from his blush.

"Y-You're pretty mean sometimes, Sunset," he remarked, giving an unamused look to Sunset, even if deep inside him he enjoyed being this friendly with her. She giggled looking at his good friend, just patting him on his back and hugging him.

Meanwhile, in another classroom, Crowned remained catatonic, curled up on one of the corners, drawing circles with his finger on the floor and remaining silent. His friend Dizzy just stared at him, and rolled his eyes by the ninth time as he watched his friend repeating the same circular pattern with his finger.

"Oh come on, Crowned, calm down," he said, trying to make him react, "it's not the end of the world because a girl doesn't want your attention."

Dizzy's friend didn't respond, still making circles on the floor.

"I'm being serious. Look, I haven't hooked up with anyone and see how I... Okay, I'm an awful example, don't say it."

Crowned remained silent, just looking at the imaginary circles he was still drawing.

"Come on, there are a lot of other girls (cofcofandmorefeminineonescofcof), all around the whole world. I mean, maybe if you think about that girl from Cry-"

"I DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT!!!" Crowned screamed enraged, before looking at his friend and apologizing, "...I-I'm sorry."

"Y-YOU'RE A DUMBASS!" Dizzy replied hanging from the ceiling, absolutely terrified from his buddy's scream.

"Excuse me... I just didn't take AJ's answer so... well."

"SHEEZ, IF YOU DON'T TELL ME, I WOULDN'T HAVE NOTICED!" the even more paler boy said, as he dropped from the ceiling and fell on his back. "Ouch."

Crowned felt ashamed of himself as his cheeks turned red again. Dizzy stood up again and approached to his pal.

"Look, just think about it this way: She didn't BREAK your heart like anyone else would've done, and she didn't tell you she wanted nothing with you, just that she has no interest in a boyfriend right now. Key word: RIGHT NOW. Give her some time, maybe she will be more open and would want a boyfriend, and what better choice than the kind boy who helped her recover her... 'Mcmuffin', whatever."

The boy turned to face his friend, still a bit saddened, but he managed to smile and say:

"I-I think you're right... thank you, friend," and then he embraced his pal in a hug, shocking him.

Dizzy didn't know how to react, but accepted his friend's hug.

"...you dumbass," he said, in a more friendly way, "Just don't get all melodramatic if she rejects you."

"DIZZY!!!" Crowned exclaimed at his joke, but quickly calmed down and hugged him, "You're a dummy."

The next day, Crowned and Dizzy walked to the gym after classes, but to their surprise they found a crowd of people, most of them girls, entering the gym.

"Uuuhm, are the gym classes the favorite of the school, or why are there so many people?" the boy with the crown asked.

"First of all, it definitively is not a favorite, and I have no idea of what's going on here," his pale friend responded, still wondering about the large crowd of students.

"Well, Flash told us he could meet us here so, let's go." Crowned noticed that, to make their way into the gym, they'd have to pass through the crowd of girls. "...this will be uncomfortable."

"You don't say. Outside of Sunset, the girls are... Uuuuuh..." Dizzy looked at all the girls, trying to keep something in control, "They're not ugly at all, definitively not, just... If they noticed me, they would kick the crap out of me."

"Uhm, okay? Guess it's better me than you, then." He then proceeded to open a way among the people, not without slightly pushing them a bit. "Ooop! Sorry! My apologies! Ouch! Excuse me! Didn't notice you... Ow... Huh?"

As he tried opening his way, Crowned turned back and noticed Octavia looking at him from afar. He then tried going back outside, but Dizzy pushed him back into the gym.

"Come on! Don't get distracted looking around you, or you want them to do the same they would do to me? At least tell me, what are they all watching?!"

"Wait, Dizzy!!!" Crowned tried to walk back, but his friend kept pushing that he had no choice but go inside.

Once inside the gym, he found a good place away from the crowd, and saw what had everyone's attention: Flash was shirtless and covered in swat, practicing with a staff with the help of the P.E. coach. All of the girls were fawning over him, looking at how attractive he looked.

"Oh... so... it was that."

"What is it? Tell me, is it Sunset doing gymnastics?" Dizzy asked from the entrace of the gym.

Rolling his eyes, Crowned pulled his friend through the multitude and to his side.

"No, Sunset is over there, for some reason with... Is that Twilight?" The two of them looked over at the other side of the gym, where Sunset and Twilight were together over the steps, "I almost didn't recognize her from how red she is now."

"...Oh dear, she's blushing harder than a tomato. I wonder why she's..." Dizzy then looked over at the center of the court, and realized what made her blush, "Oh... Oooooh... Okay, what?"

Flash didn't lose focus on his training, as Dizzy and Crowned walked away from the crowd into the steps, the pale boy still trying to comprehend what he was looking at.

"F-Flash was always this athletic?" the crowned boy asked, perplexed at his friend's figure.

"N-No... or not that I knew about. He never told or showed me... He usually was the same old Brad conquering girls."

"Well, he is still doing so, ain't he?" Crowned said pointing at all the girls melting for him.

"Yes... and probably even more," Dizzy responded, facepalming at the sight of the girls fawning over Flash, "I think you understand now what I meant about the girls... and I guess Twilight has quite the competition now."

"I understand... althought with that body and his cute face, it's obvious Twilight could have competition." Crowned blushed slightly looking at his friend training.

"Yes, it's obvious that..." Dizzy's eyes opened wide as realization hit him. "...what the fuck did you just say?"

"...that he has a good body and cute face, and that could cause that Twilight had a lot o-"

"Woahwoahwoahwoahwoah, WHAT?!" the pale boy grabbed his friend by the shirt and drove him closer. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN FLASH HAS 'GOOD BODY AND CUTE FACE'?!"

"H-Hey! One has to admit that Flash is... quite good-looking." Crowned responded, blushing even harder.

Dizzy was starting to freak out and in the edge of a breakdown.

"...Please don't tell me you got a crush on him."

"DIZZY!!! I-I just said I must admit that, for a guy, he's very-"

"STOP SAYING THAT! YOU REALLY SOUND LIKE YOU'RE INTO HIM!!!" Dizzy shook Crowned while trembling and getting absolutely freaked out.

"DIZZYYYYY!!! CALMDOOOOWN!" he managed to push himself apart, his head now flurried, "It was just an observation. Besides, if I was into him, how could that affect you?"

One of the pale student's eye began to twitch, and grabbed his friend by the shoulders, and shook him violently at supersonic speeds.

"CROWNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!"

...and then a certain staff hit Dizzy right in the head, knocking him down.

"Hey, leave Crowned alone," Flash said as he helped his buddy.

"Thanks Flash, buddy," the boy with the crown said, his eyes twirling and smiling.

"You're welcome," he made a gentle reverence, like all a martial artist, "Please wait with the girls. I mean, Sunset and Twily, not the others. Just wait with them, I'm almost done here."

As he returned to his training, Dizzy rubbed his head in pain, recovering consciousness.

"Ouch... why me?" he said before turning to Crowned, still looking freaked out, "Buddy, are you really going after Flash just because AJ rejected you?! Seriously, there are a lot of other girls, AND YOU PICK FLASH?!"

"DIZZY!!! YOU WANT ME TO CALL FLASH HERE SO HE CAN HIT YOU AGAIN?!" Crowned replied, a little bit upset.

Dizzy just remained silent as he rubbed the bump on his head, and the two boys moved towards the steps where Twily and Sunset were watching. The two girls were very focused looking at Flash, both for different reasons, and Sunset noticing how her friend was absolutely blushing.

"Twilight, is everything ok?" she asked to her.

"Y-Yes, it's just... Heheh..." Twilight laughed nervously as she tried to come up with an explanation of how she was 'studying' Flash's body, "I was focusing on my book, but... I feel like I should be studying something else."

"Yeah, I get ya," Sunset replied, blushing just like her, "You're 'studying' Flash's body, right?"

"Excuse me?" Twilight replied, blushing even further and staring at her friend.

"N-Nothing."

Twilight stared coldly at her friend, adjusting her glasses to look more intimidating with the reflection of the lights.

"...You didn't want him, now he's mine," she declared bluntly.

"HUH?! TWILIGHT, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Sunset freaked out at how her friend was staring at her.

"Oh, nothing," she responded, discimulating like she said nor heard anything.

Sunset slightly blushed, surprised by her friend's attitude, althought she thought perhaps she was right.

After the training session was over, everyone left the gym except for Crowned, Dizzy, Sunset and Twilight, who all approached the still sweaty Flash.

"Well, at last they all le-" he couldn't finish talking when Twi suddenly glomped him, "T-TWILIGHT!!!"

"My perfect manly specimen... I mean, hi!"she said awkwardly.

"T-Twily, I have no shirt yet and... I'm all sweaty!" Flash felt a little bit shocked of her being so close to him.

"I-It doesn't matter, I'm interested in studying the anatomy of a boy... up close." Twilight got even closer to him, making the boy blush probably brighter than a traffic light, and what she said next, with a cute bright shine on her eyes, didn't help either, "Especially if it's you, Flashy."

"Heh heh... Heh heh heh... Oh dear..." her awkwardness was like an attack of cuteness for Flash, who didn't know how to react.

"IIIIIIIII think you should let him go, Twily, or you'll kill him before he starts training the boys," Sunset attempted to separate her friend from him, blushing as hard as him.

"T-TRAINING!?" Both Crowned and Dizzy shouted in surprise, unaware of the plan.

"Uhm... I was.... I... Well... the Elements.... and..." Flash could barely talk, still infatuated by Twilight's affection.

Sunset saw this and rolled her eyes, grabbing her friend and separating her from Flash, dragging her towards the exit.

"Noooo! My Flashy-Washy!" she cried in a somewhat cute way.

"TWILIGHT, CAN YOU PLEASE BEHAVE?" Sunset berated as Twi still tried to push herself towards the boy. "GUYS, I'LL LEAVE YOU ALONE WITH FLASH."

And so the two girls left the room, leaving only Flash and the other boys to train.

"Oh goodness, that was... really cute," he said as his cheeks turned red, until he noticed the already confused looks on his friends, "Uuuh, right! Cofcof... Okay guys, while AJ and Rarity learn how to use their new powers, I've decided to train you two in personal defense."

"Wait, YOU?!" both exclaimed at the same time.

"Yeah. Any problem with that?"

"No no no, of course not! It could be amazing if you-"

Suddenly, a loud cackle interrupted Crowned, and when he turned his head, he saw Dizzy breaking in laughter in the floor.

"Dizzy, what's happening to you?" Flash asked, looking unamused.

"HAHAHAH! SORRY, BUT YOU?! TEACHING US HOW TO DEFEND OURSELVES?!" the pale boy just kept breaking into laughter, "HAHAHAHAH! OH DEAR, THIS IS TOO FUNNY!!! HAHAHAHA... WHAT WILL YOU TEACH US ANYWAYS, HOW TO FLIRT WITH THE SHADOWS?! HAHAHAHAHAH!!!"

"Dizzy! Give Flash a chance, didn't you see how he was training with-"

"PFFFFT! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAHAAAAA!!!" Dizzy only laughed even louder, "OH YES, 'KUNG FU BRAD'! HAHA-"

And then his laughter stopped when Flash hit him with his staff on the head, then grabbed him into a submission hold, just to finish by throwing him to the other side of the gym, face first to the floor.

"You were saying?" the blue-haired boy said with a smirk.

"...Pain. So much pain..." Dizzy said, barely rising his head to speak, "That was cheating."

"Nope, that was Flash kicking your butt for being a bigmouthed dummy", Crowned added with a smile.

"...are you sure you don't have something for him?" the pale boy said rapidly.

"What?"

"Don't listen to him, Flash. He's just dizzy." Crowned's friend stared at him unamused. "Okay, let's practice then."

"Very well," Flash began speaking, shifting into a more bossy tone, "you may start giving me 500 squats."

"WHAT?!" the two boys shouted in shock.

"THIS IS JUST WARM-UP, SO DO IT NOW!!!"

Both of them looked at each other in resignation and started their training, doing everything their new instructor Flash told them to. They last the whole afternoon, and it soon was about to be nightfall when they finished.

"Nice, it was a good first day, you lasted more than I expected," Flash said to his friends.

But neither of them answered, they were more busy catching their breath, laying on the floor exhausted.

"Uuhm, I think we're done for today," their instructor said, a bit embarrased about their situation, "I think I shall make the sessions shorter, just so it doesn't last as much as today... you know, because of the shadows lurking."

"YOU... DON'T... SAY!!!" Dizzy screamed, barely breathing.

"HE... JUST... SAID... oh goodness," Crowned said, completely tired.

"Okay, uhm... I'll go for your stuff so you can rest a bit."

Leaving the two on the floor catching their breath, Flash left for their backpacks so they could go home as they regained their strenght.

"Damnit, Brad..."

"Come on, Dizzy, don't so harsh with him," Crowned said, putting back his crown from the floor, "he just wants to help us to defend ourselves from the shadows when we're alone. I mean, it'll be just until AJ and Rarity learn to use their elements, and then they'll be the ones searching for the rest."

"I know, but still... if he knows there are shadows in the school, why does he make us stay so late?"

"Uuuuh..." Even Crowned couldn't deny that, "I admit he doesn't know how to measure time well, but it's not even that late."

"WELL IT IS TO ME!"

As Dizzy kept growling in displeasement, Flash came back with their stuff and bottles of water, that then he handled to the boys.

"Have this, and just drink, breath, and go home. I have the feeling that we stay for longer the shadows will begin to appear."

"You don't say!" Dizzy simply grabbed his backpack, stood up and ran away to the exit, "GOODBYE, GUYS!"

His two friends only saw him dash to the exit, Flash simply rolling his eyes.

"...Oh, Dizzy," Crowned said, letting out an audible sigh.

"Crowned?" to his surprise, Flash was looking at him with some consternation, "Tell me: Have you been feeling comfortable here in the school even with... how Dizzy is, the shadows and now everything we've told you?"

"Well, Dizzy is still a grouchy pants but he has improved, and he smiles more at me, the shadows don't bother me, and your situation is... interesting to me, but if I can help to save the world, I'm not bothered. The only thing that did was... well you know what... but I'm getting over it."

Flash saw his friend's face, and noticed his somewha

"Oh buddy, AJ is not one who thinks about getting boyfriends, and I doubt she'll do it soon, but..." Flash patted his friend on the back, giving him some support, "I think that the fact that you help her might aid you so she looks at you as a potential 'boyfriend' in the future, and I tell you by experience."

Feeling his friend really close, Crowned felt a bit warm inside of him, and that made him happy.

"Heheh, thank you, my friend."

Flash smiled back at him and helped him stand up again.

"By they way," Crowned asked, suddenly remembering something, "what happened to the date you were organizing for Dizzy?"

"Oh, that. Well, Rarity has been speaking with Coco, and says she's a really nice and caring girl, and has multiple talents too. Rarity hopes that she can convince her that Dizzy could be a great match for her, I mean, she's not looking for a boyfriend, but if she finds someone nice, she might open her heart for that certain somebody. Possibly this weekend we'll have something ready for Dizzy."

"At least someone will have a date," Crowned said slightly upset.

"Oh, calm down Crowned, I'm sure you'll find someone for you," Flash hugged his friend again, making him feel the same warm feeling inside him.

"Thank you, friend," his friend responded, embracing him in a nice hug.

Dizzy then came back for something he forgot, and saw his two friends embracing each other... and slowly left without making a sound, with a supreme mind fart, though.

"Did you hear something?" Crowned asked, feeling like he was being watched.

"I don't know... maybe it's the shadows?"

"Uuuuh... It's better that we go now."

"Agreed."

Flash and Crowned both left the gym, althought the crowned boy stopped to drink more water while Flash decided to leave ahead... and that's when he began hearing strange noises.

"W-WHAT WAS THAT?! FLASH?!" to his horror, he realized he was alone, probably Flash thinking he was right behind him, "Oh no..."

He picked up all his stuff and rushed to to the exit, but the lights began flickering, giving him a bad feeling.

"IIIII RATHER LEAVE THROUGHT THE BACKYARD!"

The crowned boy tried running to the back door, but then he heard distorted laughs that send a chill through his spine. He tried to open the door, but unfortunately it was already locked.

"I SHOULD'VE LEFT THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR... OH DEAR."

He tried to run to the main entrance, but he saw the lights flickering again, but this time they ended up fading, just as a group of shadows began materializing in front of him. Crowned just kept running, turning towards the halls where the lights were still on. But the more he kept running, the more shadows that appeared, finally getting him surrounded under a flickering light. The boy felt a dreaded feeling of fear, but when he felt all alone and on his own, a mysterious melody began playing, making the shadows leave in a rush.

"Huh? W-What is that sound?" he asked to himself, wondering where the sound was coming from.

Crowned followed the sound of the music, the shadows no longer appearing to chase him. He just walked following the melody, until he found himself of an almost hidden classroom.

"Is... Is this the Ghost Symphony from the rumor?"

Crowned felt nervous, but curiosity beat him, and entered the classroom, only to not believe what he was seeing: It was actually Octavia playing the chello, her eyes closes and enjoying the melody she was playing.

"W-Wow..." Crowned barely could speak from watching the beautiful girl playing such sweet symphony, studying her movements, exaltating her long hair and blooming figure, "It's... majestic and... so... big... and beautiful."

But in that moment, Octavia turned her head to the door, and noticed the boy enjoying her music.

"AAAH!!!" she shouted in surprise, "WHATAREYOUDOINGHERE?EVERYONE'SSUPPOSEDTO... I mean... Everyone should be at home."

"SORRY, SORRY!" Crowned apologized, "I was just hearing your beautiful melody and-"

"W-Wait... did... did you said... beautiful melody?" Octavia said in surprise.

"Yes, I did?" the boy said naively.

"...thank you," she said with a smile, "You're actually the first person I've heard say that."

"Really?"

"Long story, you see, I..." just when she was going to talk, the musician had a sudden realization, "Wait, I'm not the one who needs to explain. What are you doing here?!"

"I-I just stayed longer than usual for-"

"DON'T PLAY ME LIKE A FOOL! You and your pale buddy acted very suspiciously that day."

"B-BUT I THOUGHT WE WERE ALREADY FRIENDS!" Crowned shouted feeling more than nervous.

"YES, BUT IT'S NOT PLEASANT WHEN MY FRIENDS ARE INVOLVED WITH THOSE SCARY SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT!"

"Wait, you've seen them?!" the boy was even more surprised by this.

"Of course! Who couldn't notice them?"

"Well, I thought nobody believe in that legend."

"Everybody actually believes on it," Octavia explained, "It's just that nobody wants to ADMIT they see them, because they don't want another event like the one from a few months ago to happen again."

"Oh, I understand now..."

"Well my friend," she regained her composture and looked at him with serious eyes, "can you tell me please what were you doing at this hours?"

"As I was about to say, I was just practicing with Flash at the gym and-"

"Wait, that means those screams of pain... that was you?" Octavia was about to break into laughter, but Crowned quickly explained.

"Uuuh, no, that was Dizzy," he said, causing his friend to almost burst out laughing, "Flash sat on his feet so he could do abdominals."

"PFFT!!!" Octavia had to cover her mouth to not laugh loudly, and managed to calm herself, "Hehe, okay, that explains it... but you stayed for far too late, are you not afraid of the shadows?"

"Let's just say I'm helping Flash and his friends to deal with the problem." Crowned sat on a desk near her friend, speaking more calmly with her.

"Oh really?"

"Yup, you know, to prevent another incident like 'that day'."

"Well, that explains a lot of things." Feeling more comfortable chatting, Octavia also sat near him, wanting to know more about her friend. "Could you kindly tell me more?"

"Uuuh, I don't know if you wanna hear more," Crowned began to blush, seeing her closer to him, "I mean, Flash told me that-"

To his surpise, the gray musician got even closer to hear, almost shoulder to shoulder.

"Come on friend, let me know." She grabbed his arm and placed it closer to her with a more kind smile, inconsciously putting his arm right over her chest.

"Oh gosh... O-Ok..." he responded, slowly crossing his legs.

His friend didn't realize it, and simply gave him a sweet smile as he began explaining.

"Well, uhm, Sunset believes that the black magic she release is still in the school, and we're searching for some magical stones to eliminate them, but either me or Dizzy must be the ones who find them because the shadows absorb magic, and Sunset is weak to them as well as her friends. That's why I stayed, Flash is training us to fight the shadows if they treaten us."

"...what?" Octavia said somewhat confused, "So, something will happen like last school year unless you find those stones?"

"Uh, I think so."

"That is... the most bizarre thing I've ever been told," she said feeling like she got lost in his explanation, but quickly regained her usual unamused demeanor, "But I'm not surprised, not after that day."

"Heh, I guess... Well, now you tell me, what were you doing here?"

Octavia blushed really hard with his question, not expecting him to turn the tables towards her.

"HUH? ME?! Heheh, well I.... Do you really wanna know?" she said feeling pretty nervous to talk.

"I told you about my deal, now you tell me what were you doing here?" Crowned asked kindly, making his partner realize she had no choice with how nice he was.

"...Okay, I suppose I should tell you," she said with some shyness in her voice, "You see, I... I love to play the chello, every since I took that music class I fell in love with the melody. I decided to start playing the chello to created harmonic and beautiful music, but everytime I show my partners my natural talent with the chello, they all seem to get quickly bored... and that saddens me, especially with my family. They all seem... concerned. They want me to follow the family business, as a lawyer."

"LAWYER?" Crowned exclaimed, utterly surprised.

"Yes. I mean, I know more than a thing about it, like, remember when I was talking with Celestia? I was preparing a case against those guys from the Corner, but I couldn't convince her yet I did managed to convince Luna to try catching them again, and for some reason it worked that time. I got the talent, but..." Octavia looked at the bow she was holding, and the chello she was playing minutes ago, "it's not what I like. I want to play the chello professionally, make entire crowed auditoriums fall under the charm of the harmonic sound of my chello... but the people here is too immature to listen to such music, that's why I practice at night, right here, to not be bothered at all."

Crowned couldn't help but feel a lot of symphathy for the girl, wishing that he could do something to help her.

"Oh Octavia... I'm so sorry..."

"You don't have to, you already made my day tonight," she responded smiling, suddenly making him blush.

"M-Me?!"

"Yes, you said you loved my music, and that really meant a lot for me," she replied, her cheeks as blushed as his were, "thank you, usually people says that I should play something else, or that I get interested in other kinds of music, like rock, pop... or dubstep. I mean, I already have a kinda crazy friend who loves that, but it's not my style."

"I get you, but I'm really the only one who has said that to you?"

"...okay, you're not the only person," she responded, somewhat embarrased, "but you're the first guy, though."

"Well then..." he then stood up and grabbed her chello, giving it to her, "I think you should practice more."

"What? B-But..." Octavia was surprised by his optimism.

"Your dream is the most beautiful think I've ever heard, it's passion that you feel for that dream, and it shouldn't matter to you what your family or what others say about you." Crowned smiled as he placed her hand over the big chello, "You have a true talent, you just need to believe in yourself."

Octavia's cheek glowed even redder than before, and tears started to appear in her eyes.

"Crowned..." she tried containing her tears, but couldn't help feeling she was at the brick of crying, "Crowned..."

"Octavia, are you okay?! I'm sorry if I said some-" suddenly, Crowned felt himself being pulled closer to her, embraced into a hug, "Huh?!"

"Thank you, Crowned, for saying those sweet things..." the girl wrapped her hands over his wraist, and he felt the warmth of her body, "Please forgive me for misjudging you... Crowned... my friend Crowny."

"C-Crowny?" hearing her new friend call him that way made Crowned blush completely and let out a silly laugh that made Octavia giggle.

"Mhmhmhm... Could you like to hear me play my chello?"

"Of course I could, dear T... Tavi," he hesitated, but felt like he needed to call her that way.

"Heheheh, Tavi? I like it," she responded with a bright smile, "Tell me, would you like if I teach you how to play music?"

As if the question wasn't enough, Crowned felt how Tavi pushed his arm closer to her, right in the middle of her chest. Not even crossing his legs would he hide the reaction to the softness he was feeling now.

"Humina humina humina... I mean... YES! I would lo-"

Suddenly, a loud screech startled both of them, making them jump in shock.

"AAAH!!!" Octavia screamed, feeling scared.

"Stay calmed, I'm here with you, Tavi," Crowned said as he now hugged her friend, controlling himself as the noises began growing outside the door, "It's the shadows... could it be that, now that you aren't playing your music, they're getting agressive?"

"M-my music?"

"There was a rumor that at this hours a ghost appeared, and it was said their music scared the shadows away..." In that moment, Crowned put the pieces together and realized what that meant, "Nobody knew it was you who was scaring them away!"

"M-me?! I... scare them away?" Octavia couldn't give credit to what the crowned boy said, and then he grabbed her by the shoulders and said:

"THE MUSIC YOU PLAY... IT'S SO PURE THAT IT CAN DRIVE THE EVIL A... AAAH!!!"

Crowned screamed as he realized the shadows had now forced the door open, and were slipping towards them.

"T-Tavi..." Despite feeling nervous, the boy put himself in front of Octavia, trying to cover her. "I'll try to stop them while you play your melody."

The gray musician wasn't sure if that would work now, until she remembered something, as she extended her arm and grabbed the case for her chello.

"...I have a better idea, Crowny." To his surprise, she opened the case, and from insideit, she grabbed what appeared to be a sabre.

"W-WHAT?!" Crowned was beyond confused watching her friend take out the weapon, but even more when she pointed it at the shadows and screamed:

"I WON'T LET YOU RUIN THIS SPECIAL MOMENT WITH MY DEAR CROWNY!!!"

As swift as a lightning, Octavia cut her way through the dark beings, with greath skill and precision, slashing them and banishing each one of the shadows, which disappearing as soon as her blade sliced them in half. Crowned's jaw dropped to the floor, astonished by her new friend's skill.

"OH-OH MY... H-HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!"

"Those things bothered me for a long time, as when I wanted to go home they always chased me," she began to explain, as she cut down a couple more shadows, "I decided to take fencing lessons and take advantage from the little gift my adventurer uncle gave me: This sabre, which now I'll use to defend us, friend!"

Cutting down more of the shadows, a path was finally open for both of them to leave.

"Pick up your stuff and mind, don't worry about the chello, it can stay here," Octavia commanded, still with her lady-like accent, "Let's just go home."

"Y-YEAH, SURE!" Crowned was still amazed of what Octavia had done in front of him, but that didn't distract him from picking up everything save the chello as they left the classroom.

The two students ran through the school halls as Octavia cut their way as more shadows tried to attack them. As they ran, Crowned noticed the principal's office wide open, and remembering what the "legends" said, saw it as a chance to investigate.

"T-TAVI!"

"Yes, Crowned?" Octavia asked, barely slowing down.

"THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE... IT'S OPEN, CAN WE MAKE A QUICK STOP THERE?"

"W-WHY?!" the girl felt very confused by his request.

"THE STONES I TOLD YOU ABOUT... I THINK THERE'S SUPPOSEDLY ONE INSIDE OF THERE!" Crowned explained to her, making things more clear.

"OH, OKAY, THEN JUST STAY RIGHT BEHIND ME!"

They then rushed to the office, with Octavia leading the way, and closing the door so the shadows wouldn't enter, or at least had to struggle to do so. Strangely for them, there was no sign of any shadow inside of there.

"Okay, let's just give a quick check, we grab the stone, and get the hell out of here," Octavia said, while looking around the empty office.

"I think that's a great idea!" Crowned said, feeling perhaps more scared than her friend.

The two students searched around the office, lifting up books and messing around the bookselves and paperworks, feeling the pressure of the dark creatures lurking outside, probably looking for a way to burst open the door. Suddenly, Octavia caught glimpse of some curious documents hidden in one of the drawers of the principal's desk.

"Hmmm, interesting..."

"What did you find, Tavi?" Crowned asked as he approached to her. Octavia brought out the papers and placed them over the desk so he could read them.

"These documents..." she read each one of them closely, uncovering their content, "They're all legal contracts and permissions of the goverment to realize work maneuvers over the school."

"That means they wanna expand the school?"

"It seems so, but..." reading further, she realized something wrong at the bottom of the paperwork, "It seems there's something wrong here."

"And what could that be?"

"They only have Celestia's sign, and apparently the goverment requires three signs to allow heavy machinery to operate on the school: One from the Governor, for approval; one from the principal, that is Celestia; and one from the vice-principal, that is Luna... but she hasn't signed."

"Hmmmm, strange. Why would she not sign this?"

" You know, I think I know why," Octavia began tu explain, as she grabbed the documents and placed them on their place, "I once heard a conversation between her and Celestia, and they were arguing about how Luna didn't want to 'attract the goverment' with how delicate this whole 'magical' situation around the school is. I mean, it's been a couple months since that happened, but even with that Luna is still somewhat paraonid about it and Celestia just wants to move on, and I can believe Luna would not let anyone from outside try to do works on Canterlot High."

"Oh, I understand that," Crowned commented, "But if its for the benefit of the school, I think she should at least try."

"Well, supposedly the shadows scared away the workers who were repairing a damaged classroom, and they scare any student that stays up late, so I don't think Luna's fears won't go away until we expell these shadows."

"Yeah, I guess..."

Putting the documents back in place, they continued their search for the stone. Octavia approached to the bookshelf at the left of the office, and noticed a small crack on the wall, right behind the shelf.

"Hey Crowned, look at this!"

Hearing her calling his name, he approached and noticed the crack too.

"Hmmm, this is strange. Give a moment..."

Pushing the shelf with a little help of Octavia, Crowned inspected the small crack, and managed to put his hand on it. To his surprise, he felt like it could be pushed, and when he did, a part of the wall also moved. It was actually a secret door, the crack being only a disguise.

"Tanana nana nanana!"

"Uh, what was that?" his friend asked confused.

"...Zelda." ...this earned him a pinch from her.

"CROWNY, NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR GAMES! You dork..."

"Heheh, ouch..." he laughed silly, rubbing his arm where she pinched him.

Going inside the secret room, the students found a set of spiral stairs decending underground. There weren't any lights to illuminate the place, but they both had their cellphones at hand and used them to light their way downwards. At the end of the staircase, they found a curious looking door. Looking at each other with curiosity and a bit of fear, Crowned and Octavia slowly opened the door, but they sure didn't expected what they found.

"What is this place?" Crowned asked, looking around the place they found.

It looked like a vault or depot, or perhaps even the exhibition room of a museum, filled with old photographs in large frames on the walls, busts from several people as well as statues, and other kinds of antiques on display.

"I-I have no idea, but look! Those pictures are all from the school." Octavia approached to one of them, noticing something etched on the frame, "They all have a specific year engraved, so if we guide ourselves by the years, these are..."

The girl's eyes opened wide open when she realized what those were.

"T-This are all pictures of all the most important years from the school! And look! That's Principal Bonnie!" Octavia pointed to one of the largest frames, showcasing what probably was the original staff of the school, with the good ol' Principal Bonnie on the front. "She was the first principal this school had, and they say she was the nicest of all."

Crowned approached the large photograph, feeling a warm sensation just from looking at the original headmaster of Canterlot High. Octavia meanwhile was looking at the other frames, looking in awe at the history preserved in them.

"...oh, and here's the first expansion of the school, and this one is from when Bonnie and miss Apple Smith planted the great apple tree, which only grew bigger..." she sighed with joy, calming a bit after watching such a wonderful set of pictures. "Wow, they have all the history of the school in here! But... why?"

Her companion thought about it for a moment, giving her his conclusion.

"Maybe Celestia wanted to use this place as a time capsule, or maybe she feels it wouldn't be wise to exhibit this in front of our schoolmates, especially those who would scratch them or worse."

"Yeah, that could be right..." suddenly, Crowned heard her friend gasp in surprise, and calling for him, "CROWNY, LOOK!"

At the deepest part of the vault, the two noticed the round stone held over a small pedestal. It had a simbol with three butterflies imprinted on it.

"Oh, so the principals really had it, but why hiding it here?" Crowned asked as he approached to it.

"I don't think that matters, just grab it and let's go."

Following Octavia's instructions, he tried to grab the stone, but right when he was the closest...

"AAAHH! TAVI, WATCH OUT!"

Pushing his friend back, Crowned barely dodged the shadow that emerged from the floor right in front of him. Unlike the ones he saw before, this one had a more human shape, and even seemed to carry an armor over it.
This new shadow remained silent, just looking at them with bright red eyes that even illuminated the room.

"Tavi... go take cover," Crowned tried to put his friend behind him, but she refused.

"Not in a million years..." standing by his side, Octavia raised her sabre towards their foe. "STAY AWAY FROM HIM, SHADOW!"

But even she lowered her weapon in fear when the shadow's eyes glowed, followed by its deep, echoing voice:

"Y...YoU... YoU'vE..."

"Wait, Y-YOU CAN TALK?!" Crowned yelled in shock.

"...YoU'vE... InTerFeRReD...fAR... ToO lOnG."

"W-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

The shadow let out a sinister laugher, as it extended its arm menacingly.

"Il'Ll pUt YoU In yOuR pLAcE, KInG wItH nO KInGdOm!"

"W-WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Crowned felt even more confused, while Octavia came to a realization.

"...wait, that's right! Why do you have that little crown of yours, Crowny?"

"I-It's not the time for that, I'll tell you when we're done with... him..."

Crowned couldn't believe what he was watching: The shadow's hand was surrounded in a dark aura, and as if it was a vacuum, it started draining the colors of all the frames in the vault, leaving them as empty white voids. The absorbed colours began taking an abstact humanoid form, a being made of living paint.

"W-WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT?! SOME KIND OF "PAINT-NATOR" OR WHAT?!"

"NOT THE MOMENT TO START NAMING MONSTERS, CROWNED!" Tavi said, as she raised her guard once again.

Once the creature had taken form, the armored shadow laughed eeriely, disappearing as suddenly as it appeared. Letting out what could only be described as growls, the paint monster stretched its arms and tried to hit the two students.

"TAVI, WATCH OUT!!!" Pushing her to the floor, they both dodged the monster's arms, which pushed the multiple busts and decorations to the sides, leaving enough space for it to move.

Noticing the now open field, they tried to run away to get some distance, but one of the arms managed to grab Crowned and pulled him towards its body.

"AAAH!!! HELP!!!" He yelled as the monster tried to absorb him inside him, feeling its goo-like body pushing him further.

"CROWNED, HOLD ON!!!"Running towards her friend, Octavia dodged the creature's arms and, with a swift swing of her blade, sliced the monster in two, freeing Crowned from its paint body as it appeared to melt.

"Thanks Tavi... Phew! At least it didn't left any stains on me," he said, still fazed about almost being eaten.

"Heh, are you always that positive? At least this is all..." before she could finish, the "Paint-nator" as Crowned called it reformed itself from the upper-half body. "W-What the bloody hell?!"

"TAVI!!!" Unnoticed by her, a second "Paint-nator" appeared right behind her, and was about to grab her when her friend ran and kicked the monster away from her. Thankfully its body felt more like jelly did time, and managed to push it away. Standing back to back, the two students tried to think of their situation as their foes dragged near.

"Crowny, seems that if I slash them, they'll just duplicate from their halves. First this two, then we would have four and so... what do you suggest?"

"I'm trying to think... ARGH... AND IF WE JUST SEAL THEM HERE?!"

"...AND LEAVE CELESTIA AND LUNE EXPOSED TO A POSSIBLE ATTACK?!"

Dodging more of their attacks, they both split for a moment rolling on the floor, as Octavia tried slashing their arms. While it worked, it was only temporal, and the arms simply reattached to the creatures' body. Standing side to side again, they saw further options.

"Okay, you are right about that... uhm..." Crowned looked to the empty photos, and lamented their fate, "Oh, that dastard ruined the school photographs!"

"I know, it shall pay for it when we- WATCH OUT!"

Pushing his friend away, the musician ducked to dodge another attack and sliced one of the creatures' arm, but before it could hit the floor she sent it flying away to the walls... landing right in one of the frames, where it dissolved and reattached to it, bringin back part of the photograph's colors.

"D-DID YOU SEE THAT!?" Crowned exclaimed at the scene.

"Y-Yes I did..." Looking right at his friend, Octavia helped him stand up, still with an eye towards their enemies who slowly dragged close, as they realized what to do.

"Octavia, slice those things again. I'll grab the other paintings."

"Alright... On my mark, you run as fast as you can."

"Okay..." Getting ready to run, he saw the monsters getting ready to attack again.

"NOW, RUN!"

Distracting the monsters, Crowned began to run towards the paintings, getting their atenttion. And as they stretched their arms to grab the boy, Octavia ran quickly towards them and sliced both in two, watching how they regenerated into now four smaller beings. Giving them no time to attack, she sliced them again, dividing them into eight new beings, barely as big as her but enough to still be able to surround and drag her to their bodies.

"CROWNY, HURRY UP, THIS IS GETTING TOO CROWDED!!!"

"I'M ON IT!!!" Grabbing one of the frames, he tried to reach her friend on time.

Octavia tried to slice the monsters once again, but this time they managed to grab her arms and legs, leaving her immovilized and pushing it towards one of the creatures. But just as it was about to drag her inside its body, Crowned slapped the portrait against it.

"Please work, please work, please work..." he slowly raised the frame, and saw how it completely regained its color, leaving just the creature's limbs helplessly flailing. "YES, IT WORKED!!!"

"Phew... Good, that's all I needed to know." regaining her breath, Octavia stood up again and sliced one of the creatures, kicking it back to the first photograph, which now fully recovered its color. And before the other half could reform, she kicked it back to another portrait.

Being brainless creatures, the remaining monsters futilely tried to grab the agile musician, who dodged them all as Crowned grabbed each frame and slammed the monsters into it, the remaining painting of them just flailing in the shape of limbs which they threw into those photos which lacked color. Soon, the photographs were back to their original form, no sign of a "Paint-nator" whatsoever.

"Phew... that ended up better than I expected," Crowned could barely catch his breath, sweating from running with all the portraits.

"Yeah, I agree... Let's just take the stone and leave," Octavia was happy they had dealt with them, but at the same time fed up with monsters for one day.

"S-Sure, just give me a moment."

Finally taking the stone from its pedestal, Crowned and Octavia returned upstairs where they left their stuff. Putting the stone in his backpack, the two left the school with Octavia opening a way. Compared to the paint monster, the other shadows were a breeze to her.

"Well at least that was easy," she said with a smile.

"Indeed..." Crowned looked up to the night sky, scared that they might've stayed far too long, "It sure got dark quickly."

"I think it's just the clouds," his friend said, checking on her phone the time, "Yep, it's barely midnight."

"Guess it's true..." Wanting to be more time with her, the crowned boy tried to be chivalrious, "Uhm, Tavi? May I take you home?"

"Hmhmhm, how kind of you, but that won't be necessary," she responded as she picked up a key from her backpack, "I have my own car."

"Oh... Okay, uhm..."

"I can drive you home if you want," she added, smiling to her friend, who didn't know how to react.

"Uuuuuuuuh, yes, but... It kind of embarrasses me that you're the one that has to drive me," he said while blushing.

"Oh come on, buddy, don't get like that. This day was pretty special: we stayed together telling us stuff, you told me how you like my music and how special it is to you, we had a... bizarre adventure to say the least... I think I shall stick with you more, my dear friend."

Having his friend hugging him made Crowned feel very nice inside, even more when she confessed she actually enjoyed their little encounter instead of what he feared.

"O-Oh, Tavi," he blushed even more, smiling from how nice it felt.

"Well, just tell me where your house is and I'll take you there." When she pressed the button to remove the alarm from her car, Crowned realized which one it was when he saw the lights of a Lamborghini turn on.

"W-WOAH, WHAT A CAR!" he exclaimed.

"You mean this?" Octavia said like it was nothing. "Oh, that's just the small car, you should see the others I have back at the manor."

"W-WHAT?!"

"Haven't I told you my dad is rich? ...actually, I think Vinyl was the only one who knew about it and I prefer it stays that way. Can you please keep the secret, Crowny?"

When she looked at him with shining eyes, Crowned realized how he was feeling something for her.

"S-Sure! ...I-I think we should go now," he said, feeling more nervous.

"Heheheh, calm down. Just sit down and leave the driving to me."

Octavia kindly drove home her new friend home, now with three elements on their side. Things seemed like they could be a piece of cake now, but unbeknownst to them, the mysterious shadow had his eyes over Crowned, looking from above the rooftop of the school as he was driven away, coldly smiling as he banished back inside.

END OF CHAPTER.

Author's Note

OBLIGATORY TO BE CONTINUED MUSIC.

So if it isn't obvious what I've been obsessed in the last few weeks, I think it's obvious now.

Well, this was a fun chapter to edit. Now the plot has truly kicked in and the adventures off to full steam. Something worth noting was that the original version of this chapter prior to rewrite and further edits was... pretty different and not as great. Worth noting is that many characters who played smaller roles in the original draft have more action in this story, and this is just a bit of what's coming.

So, thank you for reading, credit of the story goes for my friend KingMario128, and see you all next time!

P.D. I know I've kept in hiatus my other story, but between work, college and editing this other story it sure has taken my time. But don't worry, I haven't forgotten it and I'll go back to it as soon as I can.

Ch4: Dizzy's Happiness

A few days later...

It's another friday at Canterlot High, the students all talk about what they'll do the upcoming weekend, others speaking about homework, about boys and girls, and all that stuff. Dizzy meanwhile walked to the school somewhat nervous, with a thought that couldn't leave his mind.

"Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it, don't-" Dizzy was saying to himself, until...

"HEY DIZZY!"

"NOOOPE!"

Noticing Flash coming close, Dizzy tried to outrun him. His friend took notice and caught up with him easily.

"Hey, wait! Why are you running?" Flash grabbed his arm, but his pale friend tried to push him away.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME, YOU DAMN DIRTY BOY STEALER!"

"Dizzy, we've talked about it, I haven't gone back to-" Flash's eyes opened wide when he processed what he said, "Did you just call me a 'Boy Stealer'?"

"DON'T PLAY INNOCENT, LAST DAY I SAW HOW CLOSE YOU WERE TO MY FRIEND!!!" Dizzy screamed as if he had been betrayed, but when didn't he? "YOU'RE AN UNGRATEFUL GREEDY DASTARD, NOW YOU'RE BEHIND THE CUTE BOYS!!!"

"....Duuuuuude, WHAT THE HELL GOT INTO YOU?!" Everyone else turned to see them with his yell.

"I SAW YOU HUGGING CROWNED!!!"

"Woahwoahwoahwoah! That's what this is all about?" Flash smiled mockingly, "First of all, it was just a friendly hug. Second, I'm not gay! Third, did you just say Crowned is cute?"

Dizzy went from pale to crimson in a matter of seconds, his whole face blushing.

"I-I NEVER SAID THAT-"

"You just accused me of chasing down cute boys, all because you saw me hugging Crowned, so that means you consider Crowned cute?"

"S-SHUT UP, YOU'RE JUST USING REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY!!!"

"Psychology schmuckology, I'm just saying the truth. But, just between you and me... he really is kinda cute," Flash admitted as he blushed and scratched the back of his head. Dizzy took his comment pretty well...

"...LET ME GO, YOU FREAK!!!"

Dizzy tried to shake him of him, at least until Crowned passed by lost in his thoughts, completely ignoring them.

"YOU'RE A DEMENTED PERVE... Crowned?" Dizzy couldn't believe his friend had just passed by and said nothing.

"...did he just ignore us?!" Even Flash was surprised.

Setting a temporal truce, the two boys chased after their friend, aiming for his attention.

“HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" The two yelled at the same time, startling him.

"AAAH!!! Oh, it's you," Crowned said trying to recover from the scare, "Sorry, I was just... thinking... hello."

"Crowned, is everything alright?" Flash asked worried about his pal, "You got me concerned about you when you stayed last night in the school. Did the shadows harm you?"

"Oh, no no no! Not at all, in fact..." the one with the crown brought up the stone out from his backpack, "Here you go."

Crowned handed the stone to his friend, who couldn't give credit to what he was seeing.

"CROWNED!!! You found another of the Elements? This is ama- W-wait, DID YOU FIND THIS ON YOUR OWN?!"

"Well, not really." Blushing while remembering what happened that night, Crowned still felt the warmth of his new musician friend, "I had some help and... I think I must pay her the favor she did to me, and since I don't have class yet I'll go with her."

Leaving with a smile, his two friends remained baffled about what he just said.

"Crowned? WAIT!" Running behind him, Dizzy managed to catch up with his friend, "SOMEBODY HELPED YOU? WHO?"

"I-it's a long story, pal," he answered, blushing to a new degree, "I'll just say that... you were right."

Crowned patted his partner on the back and left, leaving the boy wondering what just happened.

"Ooooookay, I guess Crowned is busy with something," Flash said, feeling a bit awkward, "But at least we have three of the six elements now, and I think those will be enough for us to go search for the rest on our own."

"Yeah, I just wonder what he's up to-" In that instant, those words made Dizzy react in disbelief, "Wait, that means... THAT MEANS I'M FREE?!"

"Uuuh, yeah, sure bu-"

Flash couldn't even finish when Dizzy suddenly gave him a really tight hug.

"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU..."

"UGH, DIZZY PLEASE, STOP SQUEEZING ME!!!" seeing his friend suffocating, Dizzy let him go from his grip, "Look, yeah you're free to go, bu-"

Once again he was cut short when he realized there was now only a cloud of dirt where Dizzy used to stand.

"...idiot."

"Who are you talking to, Flash?" Turning his head to the side, the boy saw Rainbow Dash approaching him.

"Dizzy, I told him that since we already got another element-"

"AMAZING, ANOTHER ELEMENT?" Feeling like it was "Interrupt Flash" day, the poor boy reluctantly showed Rainbow the stone Crowned gave him. "Hey, this one looks cool, I like the bolt on it."

Rainbow grabbed the stone, and just like the others it started to glow as it took shape. Realizing others could possibly see them, Flash took off his jacket and covered the stone with it, but...

"Flashy!" Suddenly, Twilight arrived at the worst moment, "Good morning."

"T-Twily! Good morning!" Flash tried to act cool, covering the stone as much as he could, but not enough to fool her.

"Uuuuh... Why is Rainbow Dash holding your jacket?"

"I... I had my hand all sweaty!" Rainbow tried to come with an excuse, aware that things were going awry, "Yes, my hands were sweaty and he lent me his jacket to clean them up."

Twilight looked at them with some distrust, and noticing the nervous sweating on Rainbow's face, she approached her and removed the jacket from her hands.

"...A NECKLACE?!" She shouted a bit angry, looking at Flash.

"T-THAT IS JUST A GIFT THAT I... UUH... WAS PLANNING TO GIVE TO ALL OF YOU!" He couldn't risk to say the truth, but didn't want to give her the wrong idea, "I was making one for you and all your friends because... I-I'm that generous!"

"Yeah, what he said," Rainbow added, but Twilight was not convinced. Keeping an angry expression, she began to walk away in utter distrust. "NONONO, WAIT! Twilight, it's not what you think! I would never date this boastful idiot!"

"Exactly, it's what Dash just... HEY!"

Not bothering to listen to them, Twilight turned around and ran away, feeling cheated.

"WAIT, TWILIGHT!!!" Flash tried to chase her, fearing she thought something else was happening.

"Oooh, I should've waited longer to grab that stone..." Feeling awful about her mistake, Dash followed them, hoping to explain things more clearly.

Later that day during break time at the cafeteria, Dizzy waited for his friend alone on a table, searching everywhere for Crowned, but not catching a single glimpse of him.

"Where the hay did he go?" He asked out loud, starting to feel bored, "he should be celebrating with me and-"

"Hey, what's up?" Dizzy's heart nearly stopped when he noticed Sunset sitting beside him.

"S-S-Sunset?!" Not knowing how to react, he distanced himself a bit, sweating like crazy.

"Oh, calm down. Don't be afraid of me, I don't bite," she joked around, giggling a bit.

"Oh, o-of course you don't!" he answered, with a nervous smile, "Uuh, what brought you here?"

"Well, since we already have three elements with us, it's possible that we'll start looking for the rest for ourselves." Getting closer to the boy, Sunset smiled kindly, with all her gratitude. "I just wanted to thank Crowned and you for all the help you gave us. By the way, where is he?"

"I-I have no idea. It's like he banished..."

"Well, when you see him, tell your friend that we actually convinced AJ to give him a chance!" Sunset said with a smile.

"Wow, really? How did you do that?"

"She's a bit stubborn, but after how quickly you found those elements, she felt it was fair that both of you got a reward for it."

"Reward? Wait... BOTH?!" Dizzy was at a loss of words, wondering what kind of reward they had.

"Of course, actually... I have yours here," Sunset added, as she approached more towards the pale boy.

Feeling his heart racing, Dizzy completely blushed as Sunset leaned closer to him. Feeling her breath closer, her beautiful face coming close, even taking a peek from her cleavage, everything felt almost like a dream. He leaned his face, expecting her lips to meet with his... until he felt a piece of paper on his hand.

"Here, there's your new schedule," Sunset said smiling, unaware of Dizzy nearly puckering his lips.

"...what?" While feeling somewhat disappointed, he was still curious about the paper.

"Oh, no need to thank me, I just know you'll love it."

Sunset then stood up and walked away towards the table where her friends were waiting. Dizzy decided to read the schedule she left for him, only to find an odd surprise.

"OH, COME ON! I HAD TWO FREE HOURS AFTER THE BREAK!"

Much later, Dizzy had to head to his new class, where he was greeted by the always nice Miss Cheerilee.

"Oh, mister Dizzy," she greeted him enthusiastically, "I was told you were moved to my class."

"Yeah, what a joy," he responded sarcastically.

"You can have a seat on the back row, please."

The pale student walked to the very back and took his seat, looking pretty upset.

"What a gift they gave me," he murmured to himself, "Why the hell did they do this to me?"

Suddenly, the answer to his question arrive when a certain girl sat right beside him while he didn't notice it.

"Uhm, excuse me?" she approached the grumpy boy, trying to get his attention. "Could I ask if you have a pencil I can borrow?"

"Uh, sure, I... aaaaaAAAAAA-"

He had to cover his mouth to not scream as he thought:

"IT'S THAT NEW CUTE GIRL I SAW THE OTHER DAY!"

"Are you okay?" she asked curious of him, judging how lost he was looking at her.

"Uuuuhh... Huminahuminahumina... ABCOneTwoThreeApplelooselikeahorse... I mean... I'm fine!" He tried to play it cool, despite looking like a dunce, "Uuh, I'm new to this class, so let me introduce myself: I'm Dizzy. I mean, my name is Dizzy... Okay, I'm pretty dizzy too, but you catch the drift."

He extended his arm with a goofy grin on his face, making the girl giggle as she gently shook his hand.

"It's a pleasure, I'm Coco Pommel."

"T-T-T-THAT'S SUCH A CUTE NAME!" he said, still with a dumb smile, which was now concerning her.

"Uh, are you okay pal? Do you need me to call the infirmary?

"NO NO NO! I'M JUST REALLY HAPPY TO KNOW YOU, I MEAN TALK TO YOU, I MEAN EXCITED ABOUT THE CLASS!"

"Oh... so... you really like math that much?" she asked beyond confused.

"Wait... this is math?" Dizzy read his schedule, confirming that indeed it was Advanced Math class.

"Yes, I guess the most boring and complicated subject of all."

"Woah woah woah! Hear me out," Dizzy began to say, trying to sound cool, "I know it might not be the most popular subject, but I'm quite good with numbers."

"Really?" the cute girl exclaimed looking at him with big bright eyes, "Y-You should give me a hand then... I don't understand anything. Could you help me with it, please?"

Watching at the girl's cuteness was almost stopping Dizzy's heart, who grabbed his own chest like if he was in pain.

"HNNNGGG!!!"

"...I-'m gonna call the infirmary then," Coco said, looking really concerned about the boy's health.

"N-NO, WAIT! IT'S NOT NECESSARY... YET," He shouted while still feeling the heart attack, "I-I'll help you, little friend... You're really lucky I was put in here, I can be your p-p-personal math tutor! Just call me Professor Diz-GAH!"

"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" Coco interrupted him by hugging and rubbing her face with his, "It feels nice to have a new genius friend."

Watching her smile and hearing the cute excitement in her voice was too much for Dizzy's heart, as he felt to the floor unconscious and with the silliest smile possible. Coco gasped in shock, and hurried to get some help.

"INFIRMARYYY!!!" She screamed as she ran through the halls, as the boy remained on the floor, finally feeling rewarded.

Meanwhile, Flash and Applejack walked through the school halls discussing the little incident in the morning.

"WHA' DITCHA DO FOR TWILIGH' TO GET SO MAD LIKE THAT?!" the farmer scolded her partner, looking pretty angry.

"I-It was a misunderstanding and a big slip from me," Flash tried to explain to her, "I shouldn't have let Dash grab the stone in the middle of the school yard."

"YEAH, WELL NOW IT'LL BE HARDER FOR Y'AH TO WATCH OVER HER AND PREVENT THE SHADOWS FROM TAKIN' HER!" AJ screamed at him, in pure Apple style.

"I know, I know..." the blue haired boy couldn't do anything but accept the blame. "I'll try to patch things up and explain... At least we have three elements now, and Rarity and you are ready to go for the other elements, we only need that Rainbow practi-"

Suddenly, like a blue bolt, a certain girl rushed near them, flying at high speed with a pair of wings and leaving a rainbow trail.

"THIS. IS. SO. AWESOME!!!" The colorful girl yelled while passing by, easily recognized by Applejack.

"RAINBOW DASH?! FOR PETE'S SAKE, WHAT ARE Y'AH DOIN'?!"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK, JACKIE?! I'M FLYING! I'M-AAAH!!!"

Flash and AJ had to cut her flight short by grabbing her foot and yanking her to the ground, much to her annoyance.

"Rainbow, you can't do that!" the blue-haired boy scolded her, "I know nearly everyone is in class, but there are still students in break, so please don't go showing off your... powers."

"AND HOW IN THE HAY DID Y'AH LEARN SO FAST TO HANDLE IT, RAINBOW?" AJ asked, somewhat more curious than angry.

"Well, that's because I'm awesome!" the blue girl answered smugly. "Sunset just told me how to active my powers and BAM! SUPER DASH TO THE RESCUE!"

"Uh... 'Super Dash'?" both Flash and AJ delivered some cold stares at Rainbow.

"Oh, then... Rainbow Power! No... Power Dash? ...Double Dash? ...I-I'm not good for super hero names, okay?"

"Alright, listen to me, Rainbow," AJ began to speak, trying hard not to hit her in the forehead, "Y'ahr powers are like y'ahr butt: y'ah can't go around showing it off to other people!"

"I'm sorry, guys! I was just so excited that-"

Her apology was cut short by the delicate sound of a melody... a very disturbingly bad melody.

"ACK! WHAT IS THAT NOISE?!" Flash yelled while covering his ears.

"THA' SOUNDS LIKE IF A COW WAS BEIN' MILKED WITH THE BATTERY OF A TRUCK!"

"I DON'T THINK THAT MAKES SENSE, JACKIE, BUT I AGREE!" Rainbow yelled, trying to keep her ears from bleeding.

The three followed the horrifying noise to its source, inside one of the classrooms. Flash decided to be the one to enter first, but when he opened the door, he was greeted by the merciless attack of a bow flying towards him, getting stuck inside his hair.

"OOPS, SORRY FLASH!" Crowned apologized, holding a cello with his hands and with Octavia by his side, facepalming at the incident before talking.

"Crowny, I know you're trying, but the cello is not for you. I think you'll turn it into a deathly weapon before a harmonic instrument."

"I'm sorry Tavi," he apologized, blushing ashamed.

Flash remained silent, looking at them and trying to process what just happened as he removed the boy from his hair.

"C-Crowned, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was practicing because I want Tavi to teach me how to play something," Crowned smiled a bit too focused on his musician friend.

"...Tavi?" AJ raised her eyebrow, somewhat annoyed.

"Heheh, that's how Crowny likes to call me," the cheerful girl said with a similar smile.

"...Crowny?" the farm girl's voice showed a bit of surprise.

"Mmhmm! He's my new apprentice and I'll teach him how to play the music that he wants. You aren't bothered by it, are you?"

Dash watched all this in complete confusion, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

"Uuuuuh, Flash? Do you think its okay to leave Crowned with the most boring girl in the whole school?"

"YOU TAKE BACK THOSE WORDS!" Octavia approached her really furious.

"Woah woah, calm down, I was just kidding... Okay, not really. How the hay can somebody like that kind of boring music?"

Octavia stared really coldly at her, in such a fashion that she ended up terrified and had to hide behind Applejack!

"Okay, Octavia, no need to scare her."

"I did not scare her, she's the one who got scared of me... No idea why," she replied, staring at AJ the same way.

Attracted by their yells, Rarity also arrived to the classroom, only to catch Octavia looking at her friends intimidatingly.

"What is going on in here? ...Oh, Octavia, hello. And... Is that Crowned? What's he doing here?"

"Well, I-" he couldn't finish talking when Octavia placed her arm in front of him, parting the boy from the others.

"You don't have to explain anything... I'm not surprised that you wonder why Crowned prefers to be here learning about good music than with you."

"I-IT'S NOT THAT!" Flash said nervously, trying to prevent a confrontation. "I-IT'S JUST THAT WE WANTED TO TELL HIM THAT WE GOT THINGS UNDER CONTROL AND WE DON'T NEED HIS AID ANYMORE."

"Wait, seriously?" Crowned asked with a bit of disillusion.

"Uh-huh," Rarity intervened, and added with a teasing smirk: "In fact, we were looking for you so you could have your reward."

"Reward?" Both Octavia and her friend looked confused.

"Yes! The date with Applejack that you wanted so-"

"RARITY!!!" AJ had to shut her down, her whole face turned red.

"Oh..." the musician turned to face her friend, looking a bit heartbroken, "D-Did you know about this, Crowny?"

The young boy didn't know what to say, but looking at Octavia with her saddened face and glimmering eyes was enough to convince him what to say.

"N-no, but... it doesn't matter anymore, I don't want the reward."

"WHAT?!" everybody else exclaimed in disbelief.

"I asked that to AJ as a... game... And I don't want her to feel obliged to do so, so I'll stay here to keep playing music with Octavia."

Seeing her friend choosing to stay with her, Octavia hugged him happily, everyone else couldn't believe what he said.

"Well... it's your decision, buddy," Flash responded, trying to not show his surprise. "Thanks for everything, anyways... so, let's go."

Calling the other girls, Flash and company walked outside the room leaving the two friends alone, and then had to leave the girls to go to his next class. When he left, Rarity noticed her farmer friend looking really shaken up by the incident.

"Is everything fine, darling?"

"Uh, y-yeah yeah! Everything's okay, A'h mean... Phew! A'h really thought A'h was gonna date him, yeesh."

If there was one thing Rarity was good pointing out, it was when Applejack was telling a lie.

"Applejack, you may have a lot of qualities, but lying is not one of them." Giving her a teasing smile, she added: "You're being jealous, right?"

"W-WHAT ARE Y'AH TALKING ABOUT?!" AJ yelled in shock, her facade blown.

"Oh please, Crowned is a cute, nice guy, I'm sure you were growing fond of him."

"S-SHUT UP!!!"

"Oh come on, I'm sure you could even make a cute couple."

"RARITY!!! SHUT Y'AHR PIE HOLE!!!" Her whole face was getting so red, she had to use her Stetson to cover it.

"Hey, she's telling the truth," Dash suddenly jumped into their conversation. "I mean, Soarin and I make a 'cute' couple, and we're still pretty badass."

"AND WHO INVITED Y'AH HERE?!" the farmer girl was getting further and further perked up.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong talking about dates and all that." Pulling AJ and Rarity to a nearby bench, they all took a seat to converse. "You just need a plan to get rid of that snob."

"Maybe if I make a dress fit for you..."

"SHUT UP!!! JUST, SHUT UP!!!" Applejack screamed, fed up with them, "A'H DON'T WANT A BOYFRIEND, A'H DON'T WANT A DRESS, AND A'H DON'T WANT Y'AH GETTING IN M'AH PERSONAL LIFE!!!"

The two girls looked at each other a bit terrified from their friend, and then she added:

"Besides... A'h think it's already too late for that."

"Huh?" AJ's friends looked at each other, not in a playful way, but truly worried about her.

"A'h mean... just look how Octavia treats him."

"Aww, my apologies, dear." Rarity hugged her, feeling a bit ashamed. "It's true I was being toying with you a bit, but I really didn't think you actually grew fond of him."

"Yeah, I can actually deal with the snob if you want."

"No, Dash, just... leave it like that'."

Applejack finally stood up, looking far more serious than before.

"A'h think it's better for us to focus on looking for the rest of the elements before it's too late."

Walking away from them, her two friends shared similar looks of concern over her.

"Psst, Rarity?" Rainbow whispered to her friend, "She really looks troubled, doesn't she?"

"Don't worry about it, Dashie," Rarity responded, trying to keep her calmed, "I'll think a way to make things up for her."

Nodding in agreement, the two girls stood up and followed their friend, focusing back on getting the missing elements.

Back at the Infirmary, Dizzy was recovering consciousness after his little encounter with a certain girl.

"Oww, my heart... what just happened?" He opened his eyes noticed where he was, but before he could speak, another voice said:

"You suddenly fainted, for some reason."

Recognizing Coco's voice, he slowly turned his head to the left side of the bed, only to find her sitting beside him.

"...Did I just die?" he said in the silliest voice, only to make her gasp.

"DON'T YOU SAY THAT!!!" she screamed, covering her face, "Why are you saying that you died?!"

"Because I'm seeing a cute angel," he answered, totally lost in her.

"DIZZY!!!" Coco hit the boy on the head playfully, getting completely flushed, "You're a dummy."

"Yeah, sometimes."

"Heheh, at least you're very endearing." Coco stroked his face, less flushed than before.

"I-I don't think I am... I don't have many friends... and if you keep doing that I'm gonna have another heart attack!" the once pale boy was now getting red, heartened by her smile. His response got a chuckle from her, and she got curious about him

"Sorry about it, but how is that you don't have many friends?"

"Well, let's just say I don't have the best reputation... Although I have to admit that was mostly my fault."

"Aaww, come on, you don't have to feel bad." To his complete surprise, the new girl suddenly hugged him. "We all have our slips and falls, but I could help you mend your reputation, and you can help me mending my math headaches."

"...Ooww, you're so... so..." the usually grouchy boy couldn't help but feel kindness towards her, and quickly hugged her back. "Thank you, Coco."

"You're welcome, teacher," she said, winking and sticking out her tongue playfully.

After that day, Dizzy finally felt a new spark of joy in his life, having such a nice girl as his friend and pupil. Crowned also felt the same sensation of happiness enjoying some time getting to know Octavia better. Meanwhile, Sunset and the Mane 6 lost no time and continued training with the powers that the stones gave to them, while searching the three missing geodes around the school.
Two weeks passed since, and soon any news about the search stopped coming. Crowned couldn't help but feel nervous about it, getting concerned about the situation and how it could affect Canterlot High as a whole. Waiting for his friend in the same room as always, the young student couldn't take the thoughts out of his head, when his friend arrived quite late to their appointment.

"Sorry I'm late! There was a huge gale outside and I had to look for something to-" Noticing her friend being absent-minded in a seat, she approached him with concern. "...Crowned?"

"Huh? Oh! You're here... shall we start?"

"No no no no no, stop," Octavia looked at him with a serious expression, "There's something bothering you. I know well that look."

Aware that she was getting to know him more than before, Crowned sighed and explained.

"Remember that stone we found below Celestia's office?"

"Oh right, yes, what happened to it?"

"There are supposed to be other three of those... AJ and the girls decided to be more proactive and went looking for them, but I haven't heard if they've been lucky or not."

"I see..." Octavia thought a moment about it, and tried to give him a solution. "Well, you don't lose nothing asking them."

Crowned remained silent, looking down to the floor.

"Why so quiet about it? Do you still feel uncomfortable asking them after-" Octavia coughed discretely, "-scaring them away that time?"

The boy simply nodded, still not raising his head.

"Oh Crowny, you shouldn't feel like that. That was something minor, I'm sure they have forgotten about that already." Letting out a clear sigh, she then said: "Maybe you should try speaking with them while I'm gone."

"Wait, while you're gone?"

"Yes, you see... i need to ask you a favour: I'll be out of town for some family business, and I want you to pick my homework, please. And if you help me doing them... I'll give you a gift." She then winked at him with twinkling eyes, totally convincing him.

"T-Tavi," Crowned couldn't help but blush, "I-I'll do it."

"Thank you so much, Crowny," Tavi said as she hugged him and gave him a cute kiss on his nose, turning his whole body red.

Still with the sensation of her lips on his nose, a silly but loving smile appeared on him... until Tavi gave him her backpack.

"Here goes all my notebooks and class stuff, for my homework." Crowned lowered his eyes at her schoolbag, and then she added: "Well, see ya, Crowny!"

"HUH?! LEAVING ALREADY?!"

"Yeah, it's kinda urgent," she said, blushing and showing some shyness, "I'm sorry, but I know you can handle all of it, I mean at most it's just gonna be this weekend, so... I'll see you then, my cute friend."

Delivering a sincere smile, she left the classroom in a hurry.

"Goodbye... Tavi... Oh geez." Crowned couldn't help but feeling butterflies in his stomach... and numbness in his legs, realizing how heavy his friend's bag was. "...ouch."

Later that day, in the hallways, Crowned was stuffing Tavi's schoolbag inside his locker, when suddenly he noticed Applejack at the distance, seemingly lost in her thoughts near her locker. Feeling the need of talking with her, and remembering his friend's advice, he slowly approach to her.

"Uh, Appl-"

"AAAH!!!" Getting startled, AJ slammed her locker's door on Crowned's head. "Oh dear... CROWNED?!"

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star..." The poor boy felt to the ground, his head twirling after being hit.

"Oow, A'hm sorry, suga'hcube, you scared me," she exclaimed while rubbing his forehead.

"I-I'm fine... I think."

"Hmm... No, this doesn't look good," she remarked, feeling a lump where she hit him, "Here, let me help y'ah."

"W-WAIT, APPLE-" Before he could protest, the farmer carried him to the infirmary, taking the words from his mouth with her show of strength.

Once there, Applejack rubbed some ointment over his lump, and placed some bandages over his forehead.

"Sorry for hitting y'ah that hard, Crowned, but y'ah really startled me," Applejack said, feeling a bit upset about it.

"Calm down, it wasn't big deal. Dad always said I got a thick head after all," he joked, sticking his tongue out with a smile.

"Heh heh heh, yeah, seems so," she chuckled.

"Well, now tell me... How's the element search going?"

"Oh, that... uhm... it's going... uuuh..." The scrunchy face she made and the movement of her eyes gave it away.

"Applejack, it's easy to notice when you're gonna lie... just tell me what's going on."

"Okay, okay..." she let out a very audible sigh, and said it. "We haven't got them yet."

"WHAT!? WHY?!"

"A'H DON'T KNOW, IF A'H KNEW ALREADY, WE WOULD'VE DONE SOMETHIN' ABOUT IT!" She exclaimed, sounding very angry.

"BUT I THOUGHT THE ELEMENTS COULD EASILY DESTROY THE SHADOWS WITHOUT PROBLEM!"

"And they can, it's actually pretty easy." She took a seat near him, and decided to explain everything. "You see, we went to the basement where all the pipework is, and just like Shady Guy's notebook said, we found one of the stones. But when we tried to grab it, the shadows all panicked and took it away. We tried to stop'em, but they hid it from us, and seemed to do the same with the rest."

"Oh, that's really bad... Wait, the shadows can grab the elements?!" Crowned was now more concerned than before. "If the can, why haven't they tried to destroy them?"

"From what Sunset said, the elements can't be destroyed by the shadows, but they can change their place to disorient us."

"Damn it, if only I could help you."

"You've already done enough, suga'hcube, A'h think it's better that you follow y'ahr normal life with... cough cough... Tavi." While hiding her face, Crowned could notice her getting a bit green about it.

"...everything okay, AJ?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," she said, obviously lying.

"Weeeeeeell then, I guess I should go for my stuff, I promised Octavia I could do his homework while she's gone."

"Wait, you'll do her homework, AND your homework?" AJ was surprised about that, "Isn't that a bit too much for you?"

"Yes, but she's my friend, and I could do anything for her."

"Oh, well... how lucky of Octavia to have a good friend like you," she said, feeling more jealous of Tavi, and Crowned noticed it.

"W-Well... you're still my friend, aren't you?"

"What? ...S-sure!" Applejack responded, smiling a bit.

"Then you couldn't have a problem coming to my house and help me do my, ours and Octavia's homework, right?

"Of course A'hll... HEY, CROWNED!!!"

"Just kidding!" he said between chuckles, and even AJ had to admit she fell for that.

"...Y'ah know?" suddenly she smirked, "That doesn't sound bad, I need some help with m'ah homework and the farm could take some of m'ah time."

"Huh?" Crowned was stunned by this. "Y-You'd really come to my house?"

"Of course, suga'hcube! It's friday, we could spend the whole weekend doing homework together."

"A-ALL WEEKEND?!" he suddenly turned a completely new shade of red "B-But what about the-"

"Sunset says the shadows haven't been active recently, and feels that pe'haps they're waitin' to the end of the semester."

"Why? What will happen at the end of the semester?" Crowned asked intrigued.

"Well, rumors say that Celestia is plannin' a Spring Formal to compensate for what 'didn't happen'."

"Oh, okay then... But are you-"

"A'hll meet y'ah at y'er house at six, and don't worry, A'hll pack extra clothes." Interrupting him, Applejack simply stood up and left, but not without saying: "A'hll see y'ah then, Crowny."

"D-D-Did she just called me..." He nearly fainted from her words, feeling more conflicted about her unexpected change of heart.

After finishing classes, Dizzy walked through the hallway with Coco, telling each other about their days.

"...and Rarity taught me to sew this cute hat," Coco said while giving her friend a cute small hat.

"Aaawww, thank you, sweetie."

"Dizzy! Don't call me 'sweetie'!" she said in a squeaky voice, with a cute giggle.

"Sorry, I just can't hide it," Dizzy responded laughing silly.

"Heh heh heh! Well, since it's friday, could you like to go out for dinner tonight?"

"Oh, well I was-" suddenly, Dizzy realized what she said, "Wait, YOU'RE TAKING 'ME' TO DINNER?!"

"Yes, it's a way to show my gratitude for helping me, cutie."

Then she hugged Dizzy gleefully, making him smile and giggle dumbly... that is, until he noticed Sunset looking at him from far away, and he had the feeling she wanted to speak with him.

"Uhm, could you please wait a moment here, Coco?"

"Sure, my friend," she said innocently.

Leaving her for a moment, Dizzy walked towards the corner, finding himself in front of Sunset, who was wearing a garb and scarf.

"Sunset?"

"Having fun, Dizzy?" she answered, sounding pretty serious.

"O-of course I'm having fun, but... w-what are you doing here?"

Having a bad feeling about it, Dizzy noticed her raising her head and staring right at his eyes with a very concerned look.

"...We've got trouble, and I can't find Applejack nor Crowned?"

"W-WHAT?!" he screamed, not knowing how else to react.

"I need you to come with me to explain everything."

"B-But... D-Do I really have to?" Dizzy felt his legs shaking, but tried to not appear afraid.

"Dizzy, I know that you wanted to enjoy some time with Coco, but you must come, we really have serious issues right now." Sunset sounded a bit distressed about it.

"Wait, b-but didn't you said that you could handle this on your own without us?"

"It's complicated, just... come." Not losing time, she grabbed Dizzy's arm and dragged him along.

"W-WAIT! AAAAHHH!"

Without being able to do anything about it, Dizzy was dragged along into a classroom where the rest of the Rainbooms awaited.

"Dizzy?" Rarity was the first to talk, noticing the clearly distressed boy.

"Y-Yeah yeah, it's me. Please tell me quickly what is going on before I get bitter again... I didn't want to leave Coco alone," he complained, even pouting about it.

"I had to bring him with me, it should be better that all of us explain it," Sunset said coldly.

The pale student noticed that the other girls looked just as confused as he was, then Rarity began to explain.

"Dizzy, we haven't been able to get the rest of the elements, even if our new spells are, well, superior." Much to the boy's fears, the fashionista said just what he was fearing. "We've managed to eradicate any shadow in our way, but we still have a problem. You see..."

"THOSE SHADOWS ARE RUNNING AWAY WITH THE ELEMENTS!!!" Pinkie cried out loud, waving her arms in an exaggerated way.

"T-that sounds horrible!" Dizzy exclaimed, completely nervous and fully aware now of why he was being called, but tried to play like he didn't know. "B-But what does this have to do with me?"

"Dizzy, you as well as Crowned don't use magic," Sunset explained to him, "and we believe the shadows are detecting us because of our strong magic. But any other human? They could not take them as a threat..."

"Yup, had a feeling they needed me for that,", he said in thoughts, now completely terrified of facing more shadows again.

"...That's why we need your help again to get the last elements."

He knew it was clear he had to help, but even then he tried to back out.

"B-BUT..."

"COME ON, DIZZY!" Dash intervened, shouting at the even paler boy, "We helped you to meet Coco and placed you in her class, you at least own us that!"

"BUT I ALREADY HAD HELPED YOU!!!" he said in disconcert, fearing for his life.

"Weeeeeell, in theory you just helped with the second element," Pinkie argumented. "The first one was an out of sheer luck, and the third one Crowned found it."

"B-BUT... but..." Dizzy was slowly running out of excuses.

"Please... can you help us?" Fluttershy said, with tearful eyes, her animal partners looking at him with the same bright eyes.

"B-BUT... But..." He had no other choice, they needed him despite his fear. He took a deep breath and resigned, he answered: "Okay, okay, I'll help you! But only this time! As soon as I find that Element I'll be as even as Crowned and I won't help you again."

"OH, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!" Pinkie hugged him, jumping over and over again.

"P-P-PINKIE, YOU'RE MAKING ME DIZZY... MORE THAN BEFORE!" the boy felt his head twirling from all her movement.

The pink girl put him back down, and while he recovered from his dizziness, Rarity approached to him.

"If it's any consolation, I shall go with you, darling." Dizzy felt how the also white girl grabbed his arm, "Here, let's go for that element."

"Thank you for that, but... wait, GO WITH ME?! I-I THINK I CAN DO THIS PERFECTLY ALONE AND-"

Despite his attempt to appear strong, Rarity simply pulled him out of the room, while the other girls looked over to Sunset, still with her cold expression.

"Uhm, a-are you... are you alright, Sunset?" Fluttershy asked timidly.

"Yeah, I'm okay, it's just..."

"It's just, what?" Rainbow inquired, knowing there was something else.

"...You know I like Flash, and in fact I still think he's cute, but..." Suddenly turning red, and looking away from them, she said really fast: "But it's his fault that he organized that plan of pairing Coco and Dizzy."

"Oh my... so you really like Dizzy, don't you?" Pinkie Pie said with a teasing grin.

"...yeah." Sunset muttered.

"SO WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO?!" The rest of the girls yelled in unison.

"I was nervous, okay!? ...Dizzy was scared of being near me after 'what never happened', and while he still kept defending me, I thought..." she sighed, showing at the same time sadness and a bit of anger, "I thought that if I tried something it would've done more wrong than good, but now... I can't stand looking at him with Coco, because it really hurts me."

"Ooow..." Fluttershy hugged her friend, trying to cheer her up. "We understand, Sunset. We're sorry for accepting that idea."

"No Flutter, it's my fault for not leaving the past behind and try to move on. I just got so nervous I didn't try anything with him."

"Luckily you still have us, and we can always cheer you up!" Pinkie exclaimed, bursting up confetti apparently from out of nowhere, "Come on, I invite you to my house for some cake, maybe that's what you need."

Seeing the positiveness in her friends brought a smile into the young girl's face.

"Thank you Pinkie, perhaps I'll really need it."

The girls decided then to leave to Pinkie's house, trying to uplift their friends' mood while Dizzy and Rarity handled the issue of the elements.

Meanwhile, Coco remained in the same place Dizzy told her to wait, looking at the clock on his cellphone.

"Where did Dizzy go?" she asked to herself, looking around hoping to see her friend. Luckily, he turned out to be closer than expected.

"Coco! Oh, sorry for the long wait!" Dizzy voice came from right behind her, for her delight.

"Dizzy, it's so nice that you..." When she turned to see him, however, he noticed somebody else was with him. "Miss Rarity?"

When they reached her, Rarity was the one to talk, still holding Dizzy's arm.

"I'm sorry my dear, but we're going to do something dangerous, so it's better for you to go," she quickly explained. "It appears it's about to get cloudy, and we don't want anything bad happening to you."

"BU-BU-BU-BUT..." Feeling a rush of jealousy and nervousness, she held on Dizzy really tight. "DON'T TAKE MY TUTOR AWAY!"

"Oh Coco..." the boy said, as his cheeks turned a bright red and a silly smile formed on his face.

"Oh... Okay," Rarity saw how close she was to him, and had no choice but let her come along. "I guess you can come with us, but you must promise me to keep this a secret, okay?"

"W-What secret?" A wild thought crossed suddenly through her mind, and with a loud gasp, she held closer to Dizzy with tearful eyes, "Dizzy... are you going out with Rarity?"

"...WHAT?! NONONONO, I'D NEV-" But the pale boy's yelling was interrupted by his companion.

"Oh, don't you worry about it, friend... I have much finer tastes."

"Yeah, what Rarity sa-HEY!!!" Dizzy exclaimed annoyed.

"...T-Then what's the secret?"

Dizzy was about to explain, when suddenly strange noises began echoing through the halls. Realizing they were the last students in school, both him and Rarity realized what that meant.

"AAAHH!!! W-WHAT WAS THAT?!" Coco held Dizzy even tighter, with a strength he didn't knew she had.

"M-MY BONES... ALMOST... BREAKING..."

"Shhh!" The two friends kept silent, their eyes wide open and looking at Rarity, who spoke quietly. "They're not active yet, we must hurry... come on."

Pulling both loving friends together, Rarity guided them towards the classroom in repairing. The room itself seemed to be abandoned in the middle of the reparations, leaving only a half-complete mess with almost everything covered in sheets.

"Uh, why did you take us here, Rarity?" Coco asked, completely clueless.

"Dizzy, do you remember this place?" the fashionista asked to her companion.

"It's..." the realization hit him when he saw a misaligned wall, "Oh goodness, are really going to...”

"Yes, exactly."

"WHERE ARE WE GOING, YOU TWO?!" Coco was getting freaked out about everything.

"Dear Coco, have you heard the rumor that one half of the school is abandoned?"

"Yes, but..." Putting the pieces together, the soft girl began to feel more afraid. "Rarity... don't tell me that..."

Before she could finish, however, Rarity approached to the odd-looking wall, only to move it aside like a sliding door... similar to the one in the Principal's office. And behind it, laid an empty hallway, covered in dust and webs.

"I-Is this the abandoned part of the school?!" Dizzy asked, trying to keep himself from running away.

"It is indeed," the white girl said, pointing to the hallway at the other side, "We were exploring this place the other day, and it's... quite wide to say the least. We would've sworn to see one of the elements being hidden here, but we steered clear so the shadows wouldn't hide it again. And don't worry about the dark, we removed some planks here and there to let some outside light pass through."

"Oh... well that's a relief," the pale boy said, feeling just a bit less scared now.

"E-EXPLORE?! ...A-Are you making a 'found-footage' style movie?" Coco asked, trembling all nervous.

"Uuh, Coco? Don't get too scared but..." Feeling the need to explain his pupil and friend what was going on, he cleared his throat and proceeded. "Rarity and her friends, they... they have magical powers."

"...what?" the poor girl felt her mind getting broken, "W-What are you talking about?"

"It's a long story: Something happened here at Canterlot High that unleashed magic, the magic remained in the school, and we're searching for some magic stones to prevent dark magic from spreading over the world, and one of them is in that place, apparently."

There was a moment of silence in the room, Dizzy expecting his friend to understand. Finally, she spoke.

"...Dizzy? ...please hold me." And then she passed out.

"AAAH, COCO!" Her tutor barely caught her. "RARITY, I THINK WE SHOUL-"

Not letting him speak, she used her magic and created a force field around Coco in the shape of diamonds, letting her rest. Suddenly, the strange noises began to sound closer to the room, and in big numbers.

"Dizzy, listen carefully," she said, looking at the terrified boy. "My magic is going to alter the shadows, luring some into me. They'll probably try to guard the element, so wherever you hear the most noise, that's where it should be. Just try to grab it and run with it, ok? I'll be watching over Coco."

"B-But..." Realizing it was no time for "buts", Dizzy took a deep breath, and controlled his own fear. "A-alright. Just keep an eye of her."

Nodding in agreement, Rarity used part of her magic to create a beacon near the entrance, causing the monstrous noises to intensify. Dizzy used this chance to go inside the abandoned school, as he noticed some shadows passing right thought him, solely charging towards Rarity.
As he walked through the dark halls, the monstrous roar of the shadowy creatures pierced through his ears, easily chilling his blood.

"Oh geez, I didn't remember how creepy those noises were..." he muttered as he slowly walked through the scary paths, "Crowned, where the hell are you?!"

Back at his home, Crowned and AJ were doing homework together, laughing and being thankful they had someone close to them they could rely on.

"I bet he's already asleep," Dizzy remarked unamusingly.

As he lurked around the corners of the hallways, he noticed one room was strangely pitch-black, contrary to the slight illumination making it possible to see. Clacking his teeth and feeling his whole body chilling, he slowly approached to it, hearing the terrifying noises become further so the close he went. At the doorway, he could barely see several silhouettes in the darkness, noticing a strange humanoid figure with black wings and armor, watching over the stone along several other shadows. Dizzy slowly slipped inside, tip-toeing to not make a sound, until he heard a deep, distorted voice coming from the figure.

"...wE JuSt nEeD tO KeEp mOViNg aNd bE PaTiENtS, tHe dAY sHaLl cOMe," it appeared to have said.

"W-What is it talking about?" Dizzy though, as he moved further inside.

Feeling some shadows slithering in, the boy barely dodged them, as he saw them approach the strange figure, who turned towards them, revealing that his face was covered by a helmet.

"...wE'vE ComE tO rEpOrT tHaT We'rE StIlL UnDEr AtTacK bY tHe mAgIcAl HUmAnS."

"R-Report? Is that how they know about..." suddenly, a noticeable crack came from underneath him, and he realized that he had stepped over a thin plank.

"...human..." Dizzy's blood almost froze the moment the winged being turned his head towards him, only to roar in a thundering voice: "HUMAN!!!"

"I think I should just gooOOO!"

Before he could even step outside the room, several shadows surrounded him, making him retreat slowly... that is, until he felt the cold iron of a sword point right at his back. Sweating in true terror, the boy slowly turned around to find himself in front of the armored being.

"...YoU'rE JusT A mOrTaL," the being exclaimed, its voice distorted.

"Y-y-yes, I'm fully aware of it," the boy said, feeling like he could be needing to change his pants soon.

"...wHAt aRe YoU DoInG hErE?!"

"N-N-Nothing! IwasjustlostherecauseI'mactuallynewaroundand-"

The dark entity slowly approached him, passing a hand near his heart. Dizzy was terrified of what it would do, but then it began to speak in a different voice, a softer, familiar voice.

"You... You have a conflicted heart. You have forgiven, but you still have resentment inside you, refusing to help them even if you feel it is the right thing. And yet... you still cannot trust them."

Hearing its words, a new feeling invaded the boy: Curiosity.

"W-What are you, some kind of witch or wizard or something?" Dizzy asked, the fear in his voice slowly disappearing.

"No, but I am something that will make you doubt even more." Even in darkness, Dizzy could notice a wicked smile on its face, as it removed the helmet from its head, revealing...

"I-I don't understand, what... wait, t-that hair... oh goodness, FLASH?!"

In front of him, despite being barely distinguishable by the lack of light, he couldn't undeniably recognize the face of whom he called a "friend".

"Hello, my dear friend," the darkened Flash spoke politely.

"B-But, this doesn't... Unless... WAIT, ARE YOU TRYING TO FOOL ME?!"

"No, of course not, why could I even do that to a friend like you?" the being said with a wicked grin.

"T-THEN WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT FORM?!" Dizzy demanded an explanation, feeling his brain about to burst.

"This is my true form, silly, and I command the shadows of this place," 'Flash' responded in complete calm.

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" The boy shouted, although deep inside him he was starting to doubt. 'Flash' meanwhile floated menacingly towards him.

"Okay, don't believe me... Don't believe then that I've been using Sunset and her friends all this time, don't believe that I have a plan to use the dark magic to triumph over them, don't believe that those stone are only a mere distraction as we gather enough dark magic, and don't believe I WANT to steal Crowned."

"I-I DON'T BELIEVE ANY OF THAT!" Dizzy was starting to feel more enraged. "JUST TELL ME… WHAT ARE YOU TRULY PLANNING?!"

"Hmhmhmh, I just told you everything I'm planning, but if you don't believe, then it's your loss." The being looking like Flash then grabbed the stone, taunting his supposed friend with it, "You came for this, didn't you? Well, you can keep it, after all I'll win no matter what happens."

"AAARGH, I HAD ENOUGH OF THAT, YOU BASTARD!" Dizzy tried to punch him right in the face, but his fist was stopped by another shadow. "HUH?!"

"You fool, did you actually thought I could actually give that so easily?" the spawn mocked him further. "But don't worry, my 'friend' will soon take care of you, idiot."

The new shadow took the stone from 'Flash' and absorbed it into its body.

"Have fun ripping him off, nobody will miss him after all, hmhmhmhm..."

Disappearing in a mist of black smoke alongside the other shadows, 'Flash' left Dizzy with only the humanoid silhouette to face him. But just to make things worse, the shadow began to change appearance, and for his disgrace, it turned into a doppelgänger of himself, who looked at him with evil intentions, his eyes leering with dark intent.

"OH, YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS, A 'DARK DIZZY'?!" He screamed in despair, his anger now overshadowing the fear still in him.

Releasing an evil laughter, the Dark Dizzy leaped towards him and kicked him against a wall.

"AAARGH! W-WHAT THE HELL?!" Dizzy tried to remove himself from the wall, but his doppelgänger grabbed him faster and slammed him against another wall, then grabbing him again just to kick him against yet another wall. "D-Damn you..."

Dark Dizzy simply let out a sinister laugh, as the real deal managed to stand up.

"Argh... Okay, you wanted a fight? THEN YOU CAN HAVE IT!!!"

Dizzy rushed towards his copy, and managed to land a hit... only it was with the stone inside Dark Dizzy's body.

"OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH!!!" he cried in pain, feeling his left hand getting numb.

The evil doppelganger simply laughed, mocking him yet again and fueling his anger.

"OH, CAN YOU PLEASE SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH?!" Now he tried aiming at his face, but he barely caught sight of how he quickly moved the stone right to his head, making him hit it again with his other fist. "OUCH OUCH OUCH, DAMN IT, WHY?!"

Taking advantage of this, Dark Dizzy kicked him right in the stomach, launching in the air before once again propelling him to the other side of the room. As he hit the ground, the real Dizzy noticed his cellphone slipped from his pocket, just as it started ringing.

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF..." Having no choice, he quickly grabbed it before the Doppelganger had time to try stomping on it, and answered the call. "H-HELLO?!"

"Dizzy? It's me, Rarity." In that moment, he heard the creepy roars of the shadow beasts coming from the speaker, "I'm having some problems here... there a lot of shadows coming near."

"I COULD HELP YOU, BUT I'M HAVING MY OWN PROBLEMS HERE!" Stepping out of the way of another kick, he decided to steer away from Dark Dizzy as long as he needed to come up with a plan. "I-I'M AFRAID THE STONE IS WITHIN... I MEAN MY DARK ME HAS... A DARK CLONE HAS IT!!!"

"WHAT?!" Rarity was shocked to hear him say that, "Dizzy, whatever you do, don't try to fight it! Those are strong shadows that can only be damaged with magic."

"AND NOW YOU TELL ME?!" The pale student couldn't believe her words, as he just barely dodged being propelled to the wall again.

"I THOUGHT YOU ALREADY KNEW! YOU ENCOUNTERED THESE SHADOWS BEFORE, DIDN'T YOU?!"

"WELL THE ONE I ENCOUNTERED BLEW APART WHEN CRUSHED!"

"OH... Oh no... but those are just basic shadows!"

"Y-YOU MEAN CROWNED AND I HAD TROUBLE FACING ONLY A BASIC SHADOW?!" Dizzy couldn't get away from his dark clone punch, hitting right in the stomach and launching him to the floor. He firmly held his cellphone on his hand, "Urrgh."

Having him cornered, Dark Dizzy approached to the already weak real deal, ready to stomp them. Right when his foot was about to fall, Dizzy just had time to react tried covering himself with his hands, flashing the clone with his cellphone... To his surprise, the dark being recoiled from the light, and for a moment it seemed to disperse for a moment, almost dropping the stone from his body. The real Dizzy took notice of this, resuming his call.

"...Rarity? W-What does light do to them?"

"Oh, you can't be serious! They hate light! It disperses their bodies."

"Really?" Dizzy smiled more cockily, starting to formulate a plan. "And you say you can destroy them?"

"Well, obviously, but there are so many out here already, and if I go inside, they'll only get scared and take the element with them."

"Then don't worry, I got a plan... I'll be there in a moment."

Hanging up the call, the boy began to press something in his cellphone. His doppelganger got angry after being blinded by the light and was approaching to finally stomp him, but right when he raised his foot, Dizzy aimed his phone at him and said:

"SAY 'CHEESE', HANDSOME!"

Blasting him with the flash of the camera, Dark Dizzy dispersed for a moment in a cloud of dark smoke, dropping the stone from his body. Losing no time, the real Dizzy grabbed it from the floor and ran out of the room, flipping off the shadow in the process.

"GOODBYE, YOU IDIOT!!!" he yelled, angering his doppelganger, who quickly rematerialized and chased after him.

Running as fast as he could, Dizzy made sure to pass through the hallways with as much light as it could filter in, making sure that his evil copy couldn't keep up with him. But even with that, the shadow managed to find a way to sneak closer to him, the light just barely stopping him now that he had no stone to worry about.
After running for a while, he realized that he seemed to have lost his way through the abandoned hallways, his copy getting closer by the second.

"RARITY, WHERE ARE YOUUUU?!" He called at the top of his lungs, thankfully getting a response.

"DIZZY, OVER HERE!" Recognizing the voice of the generous girl, Dizzy turned to his left towards the entrance, where Rarity was already waiting, fencing off a large group of shadows waiting outside.

"RARITY, QUICK! USE YOUR STRONGEST ATTACK!!!" Dizzy called out, just as his copy appeared right behind him, almost catching up with him.

"WHAT, NOW?! B-BUT IF IT HITS YOU, I'M SURE IT WILL HARM YOU TOO!" she exclaim.

"COME ON, DO IT! I'M ALMOST NEAR THE EXIT!!!"

Taking a risk, Rarity placed her hands around her necklace, as it began to shine brightly, the emitting light scaring away the shadows that tried to approach her. Making a last sprint, Dizzy rushed to the exit and passed right beside her with the stone.

"NOW, USE IT!!!"

Dark Dizzy tried to ambush them, but just as he jumped towards them, he took notice of Rarity... and the bright jewel on her neck.

"Oh no..."

"TAKE THIS, RUFFIAN!!!" releasing a barrage of diamonds made of light, the fashionista ripped apart the doppelganger and any shadow that happened to be nearby.

"Woaaah, incredible!" Dizzy said, now wearing a pair of sunglasses.

When the blast dissipated, there was no sign of the shadows left. Rarity breathed heavily, slowly recovering from the blast, turned towards her partner, who was laying on the floor also trying to get some air.

"Phew... Thank you, Dizzy... seriously... thank you, we finally have another stone."

"I just... Did what was needed, that's all..." he said, inside feeling a bit of thrill and adrenaline. "Wait... and Coco?"

"Don't worry about her, she's still fainted but safe." The white girl retrieved the shield surrounding her, revealing she was still as peacefully asleep as before.

"Thank goodness..." Despite getting rid from a quantity of shadows, their grim roars still echoed through the school. "...I think we should leave now."

"Of course, let's go." Rarity picked up Coco while Dizzy grabbed her schoolbag. "I can give you a ride home if you wish. I mean, after helping me today..."

"I think we can discuss this outside," Dizzy said as they left Canterlot High for the day, with a new stone in the bag.

A few hours later, Coco finally woke up again, screaming in fear.

"AAAAAAAAHHH! Aaaah... aah? W-Where am I?" she asked, looking at the humble abode where she was resting.

"Oh, at my place, of course," Dizzy responded, arriving with some snacks to share. He had already covered up his bruises as discretely as possible as to not scare her.

"D-Dizzy? Your place?" Coco looked around in confusion, although she quickly calmed down. “Nice place, but... I don't remember getting here."

"O-Oh yeah, that's because when we arrived it was getting dark and stormy, and I told you some scary stories... and you fainted." Despite his efforts, Dizzy wasn't the best at coming up with lies.

"T-That's what happened?" she responded innocently, believing him. "Oh dear... that must explain that dream I had of us visiting an abandoned section of the school with Miss Rarity and... please don't tell me more scary stories like that, I end up with nightmares!"

"Heheheheh, never again," he said between chuckles, enjoying how she looked inflating her cheeks, but thinking: "Good grief, she actually bought it."

"Thank you, Dizzy," the cute girl said, and after checking her time, she realized something. "Oh hey, it's barely evening right now, we still got time to have dinner together."

"W-Wait, really?" Feeling like he deserved it, Dizzy cheered up quickly, "GREAT! I'll go get ready then."

Soon after, Coco and Dizzy went to have dinner on a restaurant the young pupil knew about. Between their meals they shared some laughs and stories as well as the warmth of being close to each other.

"Heheh, what a nice place you chose, Coco."

"Yep, fancy yet not so expensive, anything for you, my dear friend."

Watching his dearest friend smile like she was doing then was enough to melt his heart.

"Oh Coco... I-i really don't know how to pay you for all this," Dizzy said, completely infatuated by her smile.

In that moment, the girl began to blush harder than a cherry, twirling her fingers under the table.

"I-I know how... c-can you please come closer?"

"Sure?" the pale boy approached closer to her. "What is it?"

Nothing in the world could've prepared Dizzy to what happened that moment: Following her emotions, Coco put her hands in his face, and slowly and with love, their lips met each other for the first time.

"Thank you, Dizzy, for all that you've done." There was nothing else he would enjoy more than the view of her smile and blushing cheeks.

"Oh, Coco..."

Soon, they shared yet another kiss, the first of many that night, as their friendship evolved into love...

END OF CHAPTER.

Author's Note

Happy Halloween, people! Or... soon to be Halloween. And what a fitting way than with some romance! ...wait.
Anyways, this was a kinda interesting chapter to edit, showing more about the relationship between our heroes and their soon-to-be couples. This, of course, it's something that will matter in the long term and hopefully something that we managed to pull off.
So, hope that you enjoyed this chapter and see you all next time.

Ch5: The Problems with Love

The following day after Dizzy and Rarity retrieved another of the stones, at Crowned's house, he and Applejack were finishing their pending homework as well as Octavia's.

"...and it's done! We've finished!" Crowned exclaimed triumphantly, before collapsing over his desk. "So many numbers..."

"Y'ah don't say, that was quite the rodeo," Applejack responded, finally putting her homework away, "But hey, that means we have the rest of the weekend for us."

"True. So... that means you're staying?" the boy asked, looking at her friend with curiosity.

"Why not? Y'ahr my friend, and y'ah seem to need some company." The farmer patted him on the back.

"Heheh, thanks Applejack, that's pretty nice from you."

For a moment, the farmer stared right at him, with a look of curiosity. Crowned was not sure about what that meant.

"Uuuh, everything okay? Do I have something on my face?"

"...why do y'ah wear that crown?" she finally asked, curiosity overwhelming her.

"Oh, this?" Crowned grabbed his crown, and deepening his voice he claimed: "Well, that's because I'm-"

"A'hm being serious," his friend interrupted, "y'ahr always wearing it even when y'ah put a hoodie on. Why do you wear it?"

"Oh, well, it's a long story and-"

Suddenly, the two were interrupted when Crowned's laptop began ringing, and the boy realized it was Octavia calling him.

"Uhm, AJ?" Crowned said, a bit embarrassed. "I'm gonna have a video-call with Octavia, so I guess it could be better if you don't appear in front of the cam?"

"Don't worry, A'h understand," she responded, a bit jealous but comprehending him as she moved a bit until she was out of the cam's focus.

In an instant, Octavia's face appeared on the laptop's screen, although not looking as cheerful as usual, wearing a black formal dress.

"Crowny!" she greeted her friend, sounding very relieved.

"Hey Tavi, how are you doing."

"Honestly... not very well," she sighed, sounding a bit melancholic. "We came to visit an uncle who was feeling sick, and he got to see us and all but... he passed away."

"Oww... my condolences," Crowned said in concern.

"It's okay, Crowny. He seemed very peaceful, and I guess he was ready for it since he didn't suffer... At least he departed happily, that softened the blow for us."

"Well, that's a relief," her friend said, sound less worried.

"We are staying for a few days more anyways," she added, a bit surprising for the crowned boy, "my uncle left a last will and... well, you know about my family's wealth, so it's going to take a while."

"Oh... so you're not coming back soon?"

"I'd like to, but my dad insist that I must stay, for he feels my uncle might have left something for me. He asked me if I had a friend who could take notes for me at school, and thought about Vinyl and you... Obviously, you are the one I trust," Octavia stuck her tongue, trying to be cheerful.

"Heh heh heh, I understand you," Crowned said laughing.

"I'm sorry I can't be there soon," Octavia said, still showing a bit saddened. "I wish I could be there soon, but at least... Crowned? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"I know it's a little odd to ask but... Your crown, why do you use it?"

"Uhm, excuse me?" Crowned was surprised to hear her ask that. From the other side, Applejack was just as amazed.

"Crowny, I won't be seeing you for the rest of the whole week, and I want something to think about you I just thought that telling me the mystery of your crown could help me cheer up."

"Huh, guess today it's m'ah lucky day," she thought, looking at his friend with curiosity, anxious to hear his story.

Feeling a little nervous about it, the crowned boy discretely turned over to look at AJ, who was ready to hear his story. Taking a deep breath, he said to Octavia:

"Okay... Well, I guess I should start pointing out this isn’t a common crown. At least for me..."

"When I was a kid, my father used to travel a lot, and we barely could see him: Always in business trips, and away from us. Because of that, I took the duty of watching over the family: taking care of my younger cousins, helping with the house chores, etc. Yet every time he came back home, father always brought lots of gifts for us, it was almost like Christmas for us.

One day, after arriving from a long trip, he approached to me and took out this very crown. Putting it in my head, he said that one day I would become a king, a leader, who would do the beat for those who matter the most, and that this crown was a symbol of that... But not long after that day, my father suddenly got severely ill. He spent a long in the hospital, and everyone in my family was heartbroken; some of us were even expecting the inevitable... Then one day, I grabbed my crown and remembered what he said to me that day, that's when I decided to try something: I visited my father at the hospital and started to tell him stories about what I've done in my life, making jokes and doing gestures to get a smile from him. I succeeded to make him laugh, and even the doctors taking care of him laughed with him. It made me so happy to see my father smiling again, and I knew in my heart that a simple smile was what he needed.

Ever since that day I continued visiting him, and every day he started to look much better. Sometime later I found out that my father was going through a severe depression after being away from his family for too long, and when he got sick his strength wasn't enough to fight back, that is until I made him smile. The moment he finally came home from the hospital back in shape, I realized my purpose in life..."

Crowned put his crown back in his head, and with the most sovereign tone he could have he proclaimed:

"I am Crowned, the King of Happiness, my duty is to make my family and those surrounding us happy, no matter the situation nor the event, because the happiness of my people is what makes me their king."

After hearing his story, both girls couldn't help but smile. Applejack felt that everything he said was true, and that him taking the role of a king wasn't just an act, and knowing why made her appreciate the boy even more.

"What a lovely story, my dear 'King With No Kingdom'", Octavia said, wiping a couple of tears, "Thank you, as soon as I get back I'll be ready to hug you again, I mean it."

"Oh, relax Tavi, you continue with everything you need to do there, I'll wait for you here."

"Thanks Crowny, or should I call you mister 'King With No Kingdom?" she winked at him and sent him a kiss, "Goodnight, my dear."

"Goodnight..." Crowned finished the call and turned around to face his other friend. "Alright, I've just hun-"

Before he could finish talking, he felt his head pushed towards a couple of apples as his friend surprised him with a hug.

"Oh Crowned, A'h didn' expect y'er crown had a meaning like that," Applejack said, still not realizing where he was holding his head, "It's so nice y'ah have those memories from y'er family..."

"...A-Applejack?" the boy could barely structure sentence, in a mix of confusion and enjoyment of his current situation.

"Y'ah see..." the girl started to tell, "Years ago, m'ah parents left for a business trip, the last thing they left me was m'ah hat A'h won in the last Town Faire we went together before their trip... They never came back."

Realizing his story had probably brought her back those memories, he blushed a bit and pushed closer to her.

"Oww Applejack, I'm really sorry."

"It's alrigh'," the farmer said, still holding him closer, "After all, A'h still have many memories from them: when they taught me how to differentiate between a good apple and a bad apple, m'ah birthday parties with'em, when Apple Bloom was born... those were some nice memories, and A'h couldn't help but be reminded of them with your story. A'h still have m'ah brothers and Granny, but... y'ah know, sometimes A'h really miss'em."

"Applejack..." Not bothering anymore about the soft apples he was resting his head, Crowned hugged her back, comprehending her feelings. "They will always be with you, I know they are still in your heart, and even when you feel alone, just... look around you: you still have all your friends, your family, and now you have me. You have so many people that love you, you will never have an excuse to feel alone, my... dear friend... Jackie."

Not being able to contain her tears, Applejack cried with his words, hugging his friend even closer.

"T-Thank you... Crowny."

They remained embracing each other for a while, enjoying their mutual warmth as time passed, and even when AJ left back home the two students felt that, since that moment, they had become closer than what they expected.

The next Monday finally arrived, and the Rainbooms had reunited once again in an empty classroom for their special meeting, although Applejack was a bit late for the meeting and had not arrived yet.

"...and that's how Dizzy recovered the stone and I destroyed the shadows that stole it," Rarity exclaimed proud of herself, posing as if she was casting her magic again.

"THAT'S AWESOME, RARITY!" Dash exclaimed, giving her a hi-five. "I mean, I would've done that even more awesome, but you're pretty badass anyways."

"Oh, stop it, Rainbow!"

"So now we have four elements, but from whom is this one?" Pinkie asked holding the stone.

"Oh, it has a cute butterfly carving... May I try touching it?" Fluttershy walked towards her friend.

"Okay, give it a try!" Pinkie extended her arms and gave the stone to her.

As soon as Fluttershy touched the stone, it began to shine and transformed just like the others into a golden necklace with a gemstone in the middle, this one in the shape of a pink butterfly.

"WOOOH! So it REALLY was yours, Fluts!" Pinkie exclaimed cheerfully.

"Oh, my..." the shy girl grabbed the necklace and put it on her neck, letting out a cute squee looking at it.

In that moment, the door of the classroom suddenly opened and Applejack arrived, with a huge smile on her face.

"Hey girls, what's going on here?" she asked as she took a seat, as Pinkie stood up and began explaining.

"OH HEY JACK! DIZZY AND RARITY FOUND ANOTHER ELEMENT!" Then she grabbed Fluttershy and pointed at her necklace. "SEE? IT'S FLUTTERSHY'S!"

"Hmhm, yay!" the shy girl said in a low but enthusiastic voice.

"That's great! Now we just need to find two Elements."

"Yes but we still have a problem," Sunset explained. "We still haven't found the other element the shadows took away. We know the other is inside the clock tower, but knowing the path to get in there it would be dangerous without the missing element."

"That's true, but didn’t y’ah say we had to the end of the semester to find it out, suga'hcube?"

"Yes, I know I said that, but waiting until the end is the worst thing we can do now," Sunset stood up, looking pretty worried. "We cannot let our guard down or the shadows might attack when we less expect them."

"If that's the case, how about each of us looking around during the day?" Applejack proposed to her friends. "Every day during our breaks or if we have a free hour, we can explore other sections of the school, and if we see a mass of shadows somewhere, then we call Crowned, Flash or Dizzy to give us a hand with the element."

"Ooh, I like that idea, my dear Applejack, but..." Rarity approached to her, looking a bit concerned, "I don't think that could work. Dizzy doesn't want to be part of this anymore, he'd rather stay with Coco now."

Mentioning Dizzy and Coco together only made Sunset feel uncomfortable, just remembering watching them that day.

"Oh, and Flash is kinda busy watching over Twilight too," Fluttershy also commented, "We don't to risk her in the absence of Flash if we had to call him."

"So that leave us only with Crowned, but wasn't he busy doing something for a friend, AJ?"

"Huh? Oh, actually not anymore, Sunset," the farmer girl said. "A'h went to visit him for the weekend to lend a hand with his homework and- Can y'all please stop looking at me like that?"

Applejack blushed as her friends smirked at her, thinking there might've been other intentions behind her visit.

"So, you went to his house?" Pinkie said teasingly.

"And how is it, AJ?" Rainbow asked with a bit more of curiosity.

"Did you two have some fun alone? Perhaps... something more 'naughty'" Rarity smirked with teasing eyes, all to the annoyance of the blonde farmer.

"A-A'H... A'H JUST WENT TO DO HOMEWORK, THAT'S ALL! WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING 'NAUGHTY', RARITY!" she responded angrily to the shock of the fashionista, and then she turned towards Rainbow with more calm, "And well, it's just a small two-floor house, but he lives alone. His parents are out of the country so-"

"My, my, he lives alone and yet you didn't do anything?" Rarity teased her more, making her blush harder and get even angrier.

"RARITY!!!"

"Girls, girls, calm down you two!" Sunset said, separating the two friends from each other. "Rarity, please stop teasing her. AJ, just tell us: Is Crowned REALLY busy?"

"Uhm, perhaps a bit... y'ah see, Octavia asked him to help'er with her homework while she's gone, and him being a gentleman decided to do them. But something happened and she can't go home until next week, so he's gonna have twice to do this whole week."

"Oh, I see..." Sunset thought about what other choices they had, or if they could find another solution. Finally, she came up with something. "Guess we have no other choice: We can give the guys our cellphone numbers, and if any of us finds anything suspicious, we just call them to give us a hand, and if they're busy we simply keep an eye until Flash or Crowned are available."

"Sunset, can't we just simply call Dizzy to help us?" Dash said, getting a bit tired of the discussion.

"But he... Y-you know..." her friend replied, sighing in annoyance.

"Okay, I get it, but come on! He's just as wrapped in this as us and-"

"I think we should just wait to see how well it goes for him with his new 'friend'," Sunset said sharply, feeling more annoyed and a bit angry. "In the meantime, we must keep looking around the school, if he happens to be free we could try to convince him to lend a hand, but for now Crowned is the closest option we have."

"Now that you mention him, where is Crowned?" Fluttershy suddenly asked.

"He didn't come with you, Applejack?" Pinkie raised her eyebrow, almost sure they would've arrived together.

"Nah, A'h went back to my house at evening, and A'h haven't seen him this whole day."

"Hmpf! seriously, do you really don't know how to take advantage of your situation?" Rarity said once again, trying to scold her friend for not attempting to win Crowned for her.

Unfortunately Applejack took it as expected... and jumped right at her in anger. Their other friends quickly tried to separate the two, as the farmer was almost ready to grab Rarity by the neck, all while Sunset watched in disappointed and facepalmed, hoping they could come up with a better plan soon.

Meanwhile outside Canterlot High, Crowned finally arrived at the school, the weather looking a bit cold with cloudy skies and strong winds. He was wearing a gray hood and a backpack full of his and Octavia's homework.

"Phew! Okay, it's a new day, a bit cloudy yeah, but at least I'm done with the homework." He walked inside the school, but to his surprise it looked a bit empty, with no many students around. "Huh? Where the hell is everybody?"

"Probably looking for another school," he heard Norman say, as the normal boy approached to him.

"Norman, what are you saying, again?"

"I said they're probably looking for another school, because this one sucks."

"Oh, hah hah, nice joke," Crowned laughed sarcastically, "Now seriously, was this an off-day or something?"

"What Norman tries to say is that the new students usually arrive by this time." The two guys turned their heads and noticed Nolan arriving with them, holding his cellphone like always. "The problem is that many of them have left already, as you can see."

Not believing his words, the student turned to look around and, much to his shock, realized that all of the students he could see were those who had more time in the school and not one of the faces he saw his first day.

"A-Are you kidding me?" he said, hoping it was just a joke.

"Sadly, no," the rich boy responded, his voice sounding serious. "Apparently the fact those shadows are still around and now with teachers leaving the school, is giving the students a bad impression of the school. In fact, from all the new students this school year, only you, Twilight and Coco remain."

"Y-You're gotta be joking..." the boy couldn't give credit to what his buddy was saying, and then he realized something. "Wait, you said the teachers were leaving?"

"Yup, so if you have any homework with you I'd suggest giving them to Miss Raven, she's the one receiving them in case another teacher decides to quit."

Crowned remained stunned for a moment, not giving credit to what he was hearing.

"...I-I'll be right back," he said before leaving his two friends behind, looking for Miss Raven.

Shortly arriving at the Principal's office, Crowned noticed Miss Raven at the Secretary's desk, busy with some calls and writing down notes on a small notebook.

"Yes, Canterlot High, could you please hold on for a moment?" he heard her say before returning to another call. "Thank you for holding... Yes, we're sorry to hear that, but we're working on it..."

"So it's true... all the other students got scared away..." Crowned thought, feeling a bit of anger at the shadows for the damage they were causing to the school.

"...yes, we truly lament hearing that, we just hope you can find a better place for your convenience. Goodbye..." Raven hung up another call, collapsing in frustration on her desk before noticing Crowned. "Goddamn- Aah, mister Crowned!"

"M-Miss Raven? Is everything okay?"

Lowering her head, Raven sighed and said:

"No, it isn't. We've been having lots of inconveniences: teachers threatening to leave or not coming, the new students are all leaving, Celestia and Luna are still arguing... I guess it's the usual by now."

"Oww, I'm sorry to hear that..." Suddenly, Crowned realized something she had said. "Wait, Celestia and Luna arguing?"

"Yes, they're once again discussing about amplifying Canterlot High: Celestia wants to remodel and amplify the school, while Luna wants to avoid expenses."

"I-I see..."

"They both have problems with their points of view, but now Luna is using the excuse that 'because the new students are leaving, there's no need to expand the school', and that really angered Celestia."

"Ouch," Crowned couldn't imagine how hard that must have been for the Principal.

"And the fact that the teachers are leaving doesn't help, all thanks to those events that 'never happened'. They think the school is haunted by ghosts and shadows, and those who don't know about that day are leaving. At least you're one of the exceptions... By the way, what brings you here?"

"W-Well, I just wanted to know if my teacher and Octavia's teacher were still giving classes, to deliver some homework," the student said, as he put his backpack in front of him.

"Oh, okay. Well, I'm sure that your teacher is still around, but just in case... You can leave it with me and I'll deliver it as soon as possible."

"T-Thanks, Miss Raven," Crowned responded nicely, surprised by her kindness. He then approached to her and left in her desk both his and Octavia's work for the weekend.

"Don't you worry, mister Crowned, I'll give them to your teacher when I can," Raven said, acting a bit less concerned, at least until the telephone started ringing again. "Uhm, now if you excuse me, I still have some things to do, I'll see you in class my dear student."

"Yeah, thanks for everything Miss Raven," the boy said as he left his teacher back in her work, answering the calls from many concerned parents as he couldn't help but think of what was going on. "I feel so bad for her. I just hope the girls find those stones soon...

Going back into the hallways, Crowned walked towards his classroom thinking about all that he had seen and been told, that is until he turned a corner and was spotted by his friend Dizzy... who was holding hands with Coco Pommel.

"Hey buddy!" Dizzy greeted him in a joyful manner, very uncommon of him.

"Huh? Oh hey Diiiiiiii... what." Crowned couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"What's up, my dear crowned pal?" the pale boy said as he approached his friend alongside Coco.

"Uuuuuh, you look... very close... like, almost attached to Coco," his friend said, looking at the couple with disbelief.

"Heh heh..." Coco giggled and blushed, like she knew something he didn't.

"Oh right! I haven't told you, my buddy with a crown..."

"We're boyfriends now!" Dizzy and Coco said in unison, smiling together.

"WHAAAAAAT?! DUDE!!!" Crowned yelled in surprise, and as soon as he processed it, the boy hugged his friend in joy. "WOW, DIZZY, CONGRATULATIONS!"

"OH, MY FRIEND, IF YOU KNEW HOW HAPPY I AM!" Dizzy said while responding to the hug, looking a bit silly in the process.

"Heheheh, oh you boys look like brothers," Coco joked about, sticking out her tongue playfully.

"Well what can I say?" the blue student said to Coco. "He was my first friend here and back when I met him he was a total grouchy pants, but now... seriously, you look so different now, buddy."

"Thank you!" Dizzy said, his eyes now turned into waterfalls. "I'm absolutely joyful now."

"There, there, you crybaby," Coco said while rolling her eyes. "I'm here for you now, you silly."

Crowned couldn't help but laugh the way they hugged and then started spinning around like a cutesy couple... at least until they ended up groggy.

"I-I think I'm dizzy now," the young girl said, feeling her head still spinning.

"I think I'm even more dizzy than before," Dizzy said... gaining a friendly whack to the head from his girlfriend, which only dropped him to the floor.

"Heheheh... Well guys, I must go to class. Take care and kiss her a lot," Crowned said jokingly as he left to his classroom.

"Hey! ...If you insist," Dizzy then stood up and surprised Coco with a kiss, gaining himself another playful whack to his front.

"Dizzy!" she yelled, blushing immensely but letting out a cute giggle, before giving him another kiss.

Hours later in class, Crowned was a bit busy taking notes and doing his exercises, when suddenly he felt a familiar sensation near him... like the scent of apples.

"Hey suga'hcube," the student raised his head, and easily recognized his friend Applejack sitting right next to him.

"A-Applejack!" Quickly lowering his voice so the teacher couldn't hear them, he began discussing with his friend. "You took me by surprise... W-What's the matter?"

"See, I need to ask y'all a favor..." the farmer girl put a piece of paper in his desk, with six cellphone numbers written in them, each one with the name of the Rainbooms. "A'h need y'ah to save our numbers in y'er phone, Crowned, and I need y'ers too."

"Uuuuh... Okay? Any reason for that?" the boy asked unaware of why she was doing that.

"Well," Applejack took a deep breath, and checking that no one was eavesdropping, she explained. "The girls and A'h only need to find two elements now. We're mostly sure one is in the old clock tower, but we haven't found a way in yet; as for the other element, we have no clue where it could be hidden, and if we leave that one for last the shadows might keep hiding it from us."

"And you decided to give me your numbers so..."

"So y'all can call us if you ever find something suspicious," the farmer girl confirmed, checking out if nobody was listening to them.

"And that way we can recover the element quicker."

"Exactly."

"Oh, great! In that case I'll tell Dizzy about-"

"No, wait!" the blonde girl said, holding his arm much to his amazement. "The girls don't want to involve'im anymore... Not since he already gave us a great help last Friday and, well, now that dummy has a girlfriend to look for."

"Oh yeah, heheh, who could've thought that?" he blushed and smiled thinking about his buddy's luck. "I'll try to keep an eye open then, you know you can count on me."

"Well said, suga'hcube." Applejack looked thoughtful at her friend for a moment, thinking about how the boy selflessly had aided them in their quest. "Hey, Crowned? Uhm... A'h sorta feel I own you somethin' for all y'er help."

"Uuuh, you don't have to-"

"Come on, A'hm being honest with you!" the girl insisted. "Y'ah can ask anything from me. Perhaps a load of apples? Or... maybe one of m'ah hats or..."

"...maybetouchyourmidriff?" Crowned whispered, thinking about that day he caught her stretching and caught a glimpse of her belly.

"E-Excuse me?" the farmer girl blushed after this, having heard his words.

"Oh? Uhm... nevermind, just something stupid I thought..." the boy said a bit ashamed, trying to shift conversations. "Uhm... I-I think we should pay attention to the class now."

Crowned turned back his head to the blackboard hoping that Applejack would just forget what he said, but she remained blushing, totally caught off-guard by his words.

Later that day at lunch, Sunset was making her way to the cafeteria, wearing her garb and scarf of choice. But right when she was close, the girl recognized Dizzy alongside his girlfriend, giving each other kisses, much to her annoyance and jealousy. She was about to turn back and maybe find something in the bending machine, when she felt a hand stopping her.

"Sunset?" Turning around, the girl found right in front of Dizzy.

"Oh, Dizzy... Uh, what a surprise," she said, pretending she didn't see him.

"That's what I say," the boy said between giggles, still happy from his luck. "Uh, listen, there is something I need to tell you."

"Oh... Uh, okay... D-Did something happen?" Sunset was getting nervous about what he was going to say, fearing it might be related to Coco or-

"Yes, it's about Flash..." he responded, sounding a bit more serious.

"Oh, okay," Sunset felt a bit relieved, but then double-checked when she realized what he said. "C-Come again?"

"Flash, why is he hanging around with you a lot recently?"

"Well, he's our friend of course, and I know we had our difference, but he has helped us a lot with the elements, and the Twilight from this world seems to like him a lot. That's why we're supporting them bo-"

"So it was his idea to go searching for the elements?" Dizzy said a bit more concerned, to the confusion of Sunset.

"Actually it was the idea of all of us, although mostly Flash was the one who noticed the strange events going around the school and-"

"And so you trust him?" the boy suddenly said in a cold fashion, "Tell me, why do you trust him?"

"Wait, why are you asking all of this?!" Sunset responded a bit annoyed, with no clue of why Dizzy was being so cold.

The pale student then approached closer to her, looking really concerned, and said:

"I... I heard him say he was using all of you."

"W-WHAT?!" Sunset reacted in true shock, not knowing if to believe his words, "H-How can you be so sure?!"

"He confronted me in the abandoned section of the school when I retrieved the element," he explained. "I-I could barely see, but I recognized his face. H-he had a black armor and wings, he even threatened me with a sword! He even said that no matter what happened, his plan was still in process."

"Dizzy, try to relax... I know for a fact that we can trust Flash, not only has he supported us a lot, but he also got in self-defense classes just to protect Twilight."

"B-But who isn't to say that perhaps it isn't the Flash we know?"

"Dizzy, you said he threatened you with a sword, right?"

Feeling even more doubtful now about his old pal, Dizzy remained silent for a moment, and then he spoke:

"...Not only that. He... He also summoned a shadow copy of me."

"E-Excuse me?!"

"Yeah, he simply laughed at me and left some kind of dark copy of myself to attack me. I-I barely knew what to do and by an inch managed to lead it towards Rarity so she could destroy it."

Sunset remained thoughtful for a moment, thinking about what Dizzy had just said. She knew it wasn't truly Flash who did it, but there was something else in there. Perhaps a clue about what was going on with the shadows?

"So you're saying that 'Flash' created a shadow copy of you and ordered it to attack you?"

"I'm really not making this up, Sunset. Please, trust me and try to stay away from him unti-"

Before he could finish talking, Sunset had already turned around and nearly left in a hurry.

"HEY, WAIT!!!" Barely catching up with her, the pale student stood in front of her, "I WAS BEING SERIOUS, PLEASE LISTEN TO MY WARNING!"

"I heard you, Dizzy," she calmly responded. "I'm gonna be at the library... there's something I must investigate further."

Leaving the confused boy behind, Sunset left in a hurry to the library, hoping to piece these clues together. Dizzy tried to warn her once again before she was out of his view.

"LISTEN TO ME! STAY AWAY FROM HIM FOR NOW!!!"

The girl simply decided to ignore him, heading to the library to find something more with the clues the pale boy had given her.

The rest of the day passed by without much nuisance, and even the weather continued looking cold and cloudy. When the bell rang for the last time for the day, Crowned was ready to go home, surprised by how he didn't get to see his friends that much.

"Man, this day was very lonely," he whispered to himself as he walked to the exit. "Barely got to see Dizzy, couldn't hang out with the girls, and it's just as cloudy as in the morning... maybe later I'll get to see him in chat or..."

But right when he least expected it, Crowned felt himself being dragged into an empty room, and he swore he felt a familiar scent close to him.

"WOAH, WHAT THE..." The boy's eyes opened wide when he realized who was in front of him. "A-Applejack?"

"Shhh!" Applejack shushed, checking out of the door as the other students marched to the exit. "A'h don't want anyone else to know."

"Uuuh, what?" the crowned boy asked, very confused.

"Listen... A'h heard what y'ah said earlier and..." Blushing redder than an apple, Applejack slightly unbuttoned her shirt, slightly revealing his midriff. "Do y'ah really want to... feel it?"

"A-APPL-"

"Shhh! don’t shout like that..." the farmer checked out once again if someone was suspicious or if they had hear him. Then he turned around and sat near him, as she said: "If this is what y'ah wanted... Go ahead. Consider it y'er reward... m'ah friend."

"B-but... you didn't... you didn't have to... oh goodness."

Crowned stared at her belly, like if he was hypnotized by it, slowly approaching his hand to her firm midriff. Applejack blushed further when she felt his hand touching her abs.

"Ah... C-Crowned... enjoying it?"

"...So hard, yet a bit smooth..." he murmured, caressing her belly as she turned a new shade of red.

"D-Do you really like that much?"

"U-Uh-huh..." he could barely talk from how much he was enjoying it.

"D-Dummy... A'h think that's enough." With gentleness, Applejack pushed his hand away from her, as she quickly buttoned her shirt again.

"T-Thank you, AJ... S-Seriously," Crowned said timidly, looking at her with his hands on her back.

"Y-Y'ah don't have to..."

Before she could say more, her friend surprised her with a hug.

"I-I really meant that... T-Thanks, my friend." Crowned looked at her nervously, both blushing so hard it almost illuminated the room.

"Y-Y'er so silly..." Applejack muttered as she embraced him too.

"I might be, but I'm your silly friend," the boy joked, smiling at her.

The two remained like that for a moment, the farmer enjoying being together with her new friend, wanting to stay longer with me.

"Crowned," she spoke, getting the attention of her partner, "C-Could y'ah... Could y'ah like to come to m'ah house?"

"Wait, what did you just say?"

"Y'ah know, spend the noon together, helping us with our homework, watch a movie, and maybe lend a hand with the apple orchard."

"I-I don't know..." Crowned began to feel nervous. On one hand it was like a dream come truth, but on the other hand he wasn't sure if was going to be like he visualized it. "I-I don't know if I should."

Applejack playfully rolled her eyes and added:

"Maybe if we get cozy, and A'hm in the mood... perhaps A'h can unbutton my shirt again."

Crowned instantly changed his mind and blushed more than a tomato.

"...When can I visit you?"

"How about... now?" Applejack said as he grabbed his arm, and after checking if everyone else had left already, they both left the classroom, rushing towards the farmer's house, much to the surprise and delight of Crowned.

Meanwhile, whereas everyone else had already went home, Twilight was busy using the school laboratory as her own, looking at a corkboard full of photos, notes and strings attached to them.

"Hmmm... Maybe if I..." Twi said as she analyzed the board, changing strings and moving notes. "Yes, it's pretty clear now... I have no idea what's going on."

Dropping her head over a table, she let out a sigh of resignation, feeling a bit frustrated. In that moment, Flash poked his head from the door, surprised to see his beloved still in there.

"Twilight?" he spoke, startling the young scientist as he passed into the lab. "We should leave now, you know it isn't safe to stay until late."

"I know, you've been telling me that a thousand times already," she replied sounding a bit annoyed, "it's just that no matter how much I investigate, I still can't comprehend anything. WHAT KIND OF SCIENCE IS THIS?"

"Shush, just calm down, my dear." The blue-haired boy cuddled her, trying to relax her. "The answers won't come out just like that, try to relax and take a deep breath."

Twilight followed his instructions and quickly felt calmer.

"Okay, I'm relaxed... But don't think I have forgotten about that incident with Dashie," the girl replied still bothered.

"For the last time, that was a surprise for all of you," Flash said in response, still trying to cover the true nature of the necklaces.

""Then why is that I don't believe you?!" Twilight sounded now angry, "Every time you say that I feel something in you that tells me you're lying!"

"Could you rather want me to say those necklaces are actually magical elements from a world of colorful ponies that will help us save the world?!"

"Uhm, no but... why did your pupils dilate like that and... is your skin crawling?"

Afraid that she could find out what was going on before the girls could properly bond and have the elements, Flash tried to calm himself down and keep with the charade, despite him wanting to tell everything to her beloved.

"I-I think you've been watching a lot of detective dramas lately," he said as he cuddled her again, relaxing as he touched her.

"I guess, but... why did you..."

Her sentence was cut short when Flash gently kissed her in the cheek, making her blush a new shade of red.

"Shall we go, my little princess?" he said, taking her hand.

"F-FLASH!" Twilight tried hiding her luminescent blush, "D-Don't call me 'little princess'."

"I'll always call you my 'little princess' because that's how adorable you are to me," Flash responded, kissing her cheek once again.

"FLASH!" her voice was now really high-pitched, only making her even cuter as she glomped him. "WHY DO YOU DRIVE ME SO CRAZY, MY FLASHY WASHY?"

"Maybe because we really love each other?" he responded kindly, sticking his tongue.

"B-But how much do you love me?"

"Well, i-if my love for you was to explode, it could be more disastrous than if you broke an atom."

"Oh..." she blushed at his dorky comparison. “That... that was... that was from our class yesterday, right?"

"Uhm... Y-Yes?" the boy admitted, blushing a bit ashamed.

"Well, at least you're learning something... my Flash." Embracing him between her arms, Twilight looked at him with sparkly eyes, almost stopping his heart from her beautiful eyes.

"T-that face of yours... Twilight, I..." Unable to hold it much longer, Flash leaned closer to her until his lips met hers, giving her the first kiss of her life.

"Aahh... M-My first kiss..." completely taken by surprise, her cheeks turned a bright shade of red, "Y-you just kissed me..."

"...You have the sweetest lips of all, my princess," Flash couldn't help but have the dorkiest smile as he looked at her, and so did she.

"You are... you are..." her voice became even higher pitched as she jumped at him and embraced in a tight hug, "YOU'RE THE CUTEST, SILLIEST ASISTANT I COULD EVER HAVE AND LOVE!"

Feeling his girlfriend embracing him between her arms so tightly, Flash had the silliest grin on his face.

"So... happy."

"Oh Flash... Can I ask you a favor?" Twilight asked, looking at him directly in the eyes, "Can you please take a photo of the board and then disarm it? Then we can go to... your house."

"Of course, my little princess!" he responded, kissing her once again before she left to wait for him near his car, still with a dorky smile on her face.

Once she left, Flash did as told and took a photo of the corkboard and began to disassemble it, that is, until he noticed something weird in the photographs.

"Huh? Is that Dizzy?" grabbing the strange photo, he looked at it closer... to his shock, he realized that it showed no shadow coming from his friend. He then proceeded to check the date in the photo: It was taken the last Friday, the same day Rarity and him had gone to the abandoned section.

As he continued taking apart the board, he inspected the other photographs on it, noticing a similar pattern in them: Students either lacking a shadow, or it having a completely different appearance to that of whom they were attached to, some even looking far from human. Without losing time, he dialed Sunset's number on his phone.

"Sunset, do you hear me?" he spoke into his phone.

"Flash?" the voice of Sunset responded from the speakers, "Is that you? Did something happen?"

"Yes, I think I found something..." he said with a serious tone, "I'll send you some photos, and I need you to analyze them well, they might help us find more about the origin of the shadows."

"So you also found something, fantastic," she replied, with a bit of relief. "I found something myself, too. Perhaps we are closer than we expect to stopping this madness before it's too late."

"I agree... the faster this is over, the faster I won't be needing to hide everything to Twilight."

Ending the call, Flash send the photo of the corkboard to his partner, as he finished disassembling the board before leaving with his girlfriend back home, with a bit of hope that things were going to be over soon.

And so the week passed without much novelty. Dizzy spent the whole time enjoying the company of her new girlfriend Coco Pommel, all the while avoiding any kind of contact with Flash, much to the confusion of his friend; Crowned meanwhile visited Applejack daily at her farm, slowly bonding with her and becoming much closer friends in the process; Twilight decided to halt her investigation in favor of passing more time with her boyfriend Flash, as he struggled between keeping her away from trying to find out the secret about Canterlot High's magic and being with his newfound love; the Rainbooms however spent the week searching for the missing elements, looking up and down for whatever hideout the shadows had chosen to hid the stone, all while Sunset investigated every book in the library, slowly connecting the clues she had about the origin and purpose of the shadows haunting the school.
Finally Monday arrived, the weather finally looking sunny and warm, as Crowned and Applejack walked together to Canterlot High.

"...And then A'h asked him 'Did y'ah dress up as a woman just so Apple Bloom could admire y'ah more?', and he says 'Eeeeyup!'"

"PFFFT, HAHAHA! Oh wow, what a story!" Crowned laughed with her.

"Yeah, m'ah brother might act silly, but A'h love him as he is."

"I bet... although I think he's been looking at me very strangely all week. Do you think he doesn't like me?"

"Heheheh, don't worry about 'im, Big Mac is always in extra classes with Cheerilee for a reason," Applejack commented, smirking at him.

"Oh? ...Oooooooh, that explains a lot," her companion responded, blushing just from thinking about it.

"Yes, that's m'ah bro for you. A'h think we should-" Suddenly, her conversation was cut short by the worst of her fears... in the shape of a cute British voice.

"CROWNYYYY!"

To their surprise, Octavia appeared and glomped her dearest friend, knocking him to the floor.

"OW, OCTAVIA!!! Y-YOU CAME BACK!" the boy exclaimed, sounding a bit surprised, a bit joyful, and completely nervous.

"Yes, and I missed you so much, my dearest King With No Kingdom!" she said as she held him close to her.

In that moment the girl realized they were being observed, and noticed Applejack standing just near them, looking really unamused.

"Oh, Applejack! Nice to see you again," Octavia tried to greet her, but the farmer didn't respond, "Uhm... did you two make up for last time?"

"Make up? Oh trust me, A'h think that Crowned and A'h are VEEERY much closer now," the girl responded, as she picked up her friend. "In fact, we were just having a nice conversation until y'ah came in."

Applejack attempted to leave along with Crowned, but Octavia felt menaced by her and quickly stood right in front of them.

"Well thank you for taking care of him, but-" Crowned felt himself being yanked towards the musician, "he is my dearest friend, and we have a lot of things to do together."

"Partner... A'h don't know what y'all gonna do, but whatever it is, we've probably done that already." If there was something that Applejack was known for, was that she was almost as competitive as Rainbow, and if there was something she wasn't disposed to lose was her new closest friend.

"A-APPLEJACK!" Crowned's cheek turned completely red from her insinuation, "T-Tavi, don't think we did anything like that, we just did friendly stuff."

"Oh, you don't worry about it, dear..." Octavia said, sounding oddly calmed, right before smirking at the blonde farmer and adding: "After all, I bet that whatever you did, we two have done further."

"Shut y'er mouth, you... Arrogant snob!" Applejack yelled, going further and further closer to her. Octavia of course didn't take her answer well.

"Stinky farmer..."

"Third-rate musician..."

"Ugly tomboy..."

"Emotionless, selfish witch..."

Both girls stared at each other standing front-to-front, exchanging deathly glares as a terrified Crowned could only watch.

"Uuuh, please don't fight... Seriously don't..." his legs were shaking just from the thought of his friends fighting for him.

"Can you wait for me in the Music Classroom?!" both girls screamed in unison as they turned to the boy, who getting shocked and afraid ran away in a hurry. Then they proceeded to follow him, walking while still looking menacingly at each other.

As they walked through the hallways, the two girls still exchanged the same deathly glares, but tried to know their "rival" better.

"Well, well, well..." Octavia began speaking, "So tell me, why you suddenly became interested in Crowny?"

"I-It's not sudden," Applejack, replied, still facing her as they walked, "A'h was his friend long before you, like it or not, Miss Snob."

"Well it seems you didn't take the chance when you had it, my dear. Or shall I remember you I became closer to him for longer than you? We've told each other stories, he has supported me a lot, and he even told me why he uses that little crown in his head, farmer girl."

"Y'ah mean the one his father gave 'im?" the blonde girl responded, rising her eyebrows. The musician remained silent for a second, realizing what that meant.

"...so that's why he was looking to the side that day, you were with him..." In that moment, Octavia began to feel something she had never felt before: Jealousy. "I don't know how you were trying to seduce him, you're nothing but an ugly tomboy."

"'Ugly'? A'h don't believe he thinks the same, after all he loved touching m'ah bare midriff," Applejack replied, trying to smirk but at the same time properly smile, thinking of Crowned making silly faces as he touched her.

"Pfft, honestly even I could dare to touch it," the gray girl said mockingly. "It's amazing how a woman can develop such ugly muscles, it's one of those things you only see once in a lifetime."

"Shut y'er mouth..."

"No, you shut up and listen to me," Octavia said, more threatening, "Crowny is very special to me, and after today you won't have a chance to be with him."

She then proceeded to smile smugly, and Applejack was quick to get what she meant.

"...So that's what y'er planning... There's just one problem." Taking her by surprise, Applejack sprinted ahead of her, "A'HLL ASK HIM FIRST!"

"HEY, WAIT RIGHT HERE, YOU DIRTY CHEATER!!!"

The blonde farmer ran as fast as she could, feeling like Octavia had no chance of matching her... that is, until she appeared right next to her, running as fast as her.

"What's the matter, did I surprise you?" the musician teased her, "Do you really believe bucking trees is the only exercise in the world?"

"JUST. SHUT. Y'ER. MOUTH!" her rival exclaimed, trying to push her away as they rushed through the halls, scaring many students who were just minding their business.

Meanwhile, ahead of them, Crowned was about to take a seat and wait for them at the Music Classroom. But inches away from sitting down, the two girls busted in through the door, looking very desperate.

"...Uh, is everything ri-"

"CROWNY!!!" both girls exclaimed as they grabbed him by the shirt.

"W-What?!" he asked nervously, and then they both answered:

"I WANT YOU TO BE MY BOYFRIEND!!!"

"...Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat." Crowned's face got tainted red, shaking nervously from both their proposals.

Realizing both have the same intentions, the two girls let go their love interest before looking at each other with extreme contempt.

"...You planned this, didn't you?" Octavia said with indignation, "I leave because of a delicate situation, and you take advantage and seduce him, so now he cannot accept my proposal because he doesn't want you to feel bad."

"Hahahahah! That's a good one," Applejack replied angrily, "But hey, it wasn't m'ah fault you dumped tons of work on him to do while you were away, even A'h would doubt saying 'yes' after that!"

"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" the musician was now feeling offended, "I DON'T LIKE YOUR WAY OF SPEAKING, AND NOW YOU'RE RUINING WHAT SHOULD BE THE BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE!"

"NO, Y'ER THE STUCK-UP SNOB WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHEN TO GIVE UP!" the farmer yelled at her before mocking her, "'OH LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, A'HM RICH, LUXURIOUS AND A'H WANNA HAVE EVERY CUTE BOY IN THE WORLD!"

"ARE YOU COMPARING ME TO SOME KIND OF BIMBO?!"

"Oooh, no, of course not! A bimbo at least has more brains than you."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" Rushing to the cello case she always left in the room, she picked up her always trustable sable out of it, and pointed it towards the farmer, "EN GUARDE!"

"Oh no no no, if y'ah really wanna fight clean-" Applejack spoke as she pulled up her sleeves and got on guard, "then do it hand-to-hand, baby."

"I am NO baby!" The musician placed her sable back into place, and then adopted an elegant fighting stance. "...But I'll sure make YOU look like one!"

Roaring with all her anger, Applejack tried to punch her opponent in the face, only to be intercepted with her palms, managing to only push her back a little. Feeling her arm pushed away, the farmer could barely react as Octavia counterattacked with her own barrage of punches, one of them hitting her in the face with enough strength to push her to the ground.
Impressed by this but overtaken by fury, the farmer lost no time and got herself up again as she blocked another punch from Octavia, who then felt herself being flung by Applejack, who slammed her to the ground in retaliation.
All the while, Crowned didn't know how to react, terrified of them as they fought against each other.

"P-PLEASE, STOP FIGHTING!"

"My dear..." Octavia said to him, as she stood up again, "I won't let this common farmer take advantage of you... Just sit back and I'll take care of this."

She then rushed against Applejack once again, but while she was ready to receive her with her fists, the musician instead slid below her, making her fall again right before being raised into the air with a kick to her back. But the farmer used that gained momentum to instead position right behind Octavia, holding her into submission.

"CROWNY, JUST WATCH HOW I GET RID OF THIS STUCK-UP B-" Before she could curse, her opponent quickly stomped her foot and got herself free, about to deliver a round kick that was stopped by Applejack, looking at her with a very confident smirk.

Having none of that, Octavia adopted her guard again, took a deep breath, and proceeded to throw a barrage of bullet punches against Applejack. In response, the farmer blocked her attack by throwing punches herself to stop her, Octavia letting out a battlecry of "ORA, ORA, ORA" non-stop while Applejack repeatedly yelled "USELESS, USELESS, USELESS!" as their punches stopped each other. Their attacks were so equally strong that they both ended up being propelled backwards, looking at each other with anger and jealousy. They were ready to throw punches against, but Crowned, desperate enough to stop them, put himself right between them.

"BOTH OF YOU, STOP FIGHTING!!!" Unfortunately, both AJ and Tavi hit him with their barrage of punches, knocking him down.

"CROWNY!!!" Both girls gasped as the unconscious boy fell to the floor, babbling random gibberish.

"London bridge has fallen down, fallen down, fallen down..." Then the boy fainted.

Feeling like they screwed up, both girls shared a worried look, and making a silent truce they carried the boy to the infirmary.

Waiting outside the infirmary, Octavia and Applejack still looked at each other with anger. A few moments later, Miss Raven came from inside it and approached the girls.

"Well, the nurse says that those were pretty serious bruises, but nothing that a good treatment and some rest can't solve," the two girls looked to the floor in shame, before the teacher continued speaking, "Ladies, why is that you attacked Crowned?"

"IT'S HER FAULT!" they both screamed as they pointed to each other.

"...Again, why did you attack mister Crowned?"

"SHE WANTS TO STEAL HIM FROM ME!" they replied in unison, to the annoyance of Miss Raven.

"Uuugh..." she groaned while massaging her temples... until she realized what was going on. "Wait... Oh my... Did you two fall in love with mister Crowned?"

"HE'S MINE!" the two looked at each other in a cold way, confirming her thoughts.

"Ok, now I understand: You two were fighting, Crowned tried to stop you, and BAM! You hit him, is that correct?"

Saying nothing, AJ and Tavi only looked to the floor, ashamed of what they did.

"Listen, I won't get involved in your emotional affairs, but you should settle this down as the adults you technically are or are about to be, don't fight so aggressively, and let Crowned choose one of you, no matter how hard it is. You gotta understand this isn't the way to fix your problems. And now, if you excuse me I'll go back to my office."

Miss Raven was about to leave them alone, but stopped in her tracks for a moment, turning back towards the girls.

"Oh, and if I see you two fighting once again, I will call Vice-Principal Luna to expel the both of you from the school."

"NO NO NO NO! PLEASE, DON'T DO IT!" Applejack begged, now genuinely scared.

"We promise not to fight!" Tavi said in regret, to the satisfaction of the teacher.

"That's what I hope," adjusting her glasses, Raven left the two rivals alone as she headed back to her office.

Once they were alone, the two girls looked at each other again, their anger now gone but still feeling jealous of the other.

"Guess this really got out of hand," Applejack commented.

"You don't say... I could say it's all your fault, but we could only end up fighting again," Octavia said, not with the most pleasure.

"Perhaps."

They both let out a long sigh, no longer facing each other.

"Applejack, let's be honest..." the gray girl began to say, "You don't like me, and I don't like you, but for the welfare of Crowny we simply must wait until he decides who is he gonna stay with."

"A'h know, no more fighting, just like we promised Miss Raven," the farmer responded, and then she added in a honest tone: "Maybe that way A'h won't have to ruin your... perfect face."

"And I won't have to destroy those... nice abs in your stomach," Octavia replied... sounding like she hid something with her anger.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing..." she responded, dodging looks with her.

Applejack stared at her for a moment, a bit confused. They had promised not to fight, but they both wanted to get their beloved's attention. Who could Crowned pick? Both wanted to say "me", but only he could make the choice... not that they weren't planning to earn it.

END OF CHAPTER.

Author's Note

Phew! Editing this episode was quite a duty. ...And maybe I was too blatant with the JoJo shout-out this time?
Hey guys, it's ThatUnknownPony again. Sorry for the long wait, but November was a really busy month for me, and I barely managed to get this before the end of the month. Originally, this chapter was actually far longer, but took the decision to split it in two parts so it won't be such a fatigue to read.
Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter, and I really appreciate the feedback you can give. Thanks for reading and see you guys next time.

Ch6: Crowned's Dilemma

The following day after the little incident with his two friends, Crowned arrived to Canterlot High with bandages all over his sides, with a patch covering his right eye.

"Ouch... ouch... ouch..." every step he took was accompanied by the pain of his injuries.

"Woah, Crowned?!" From behind him, Flash approached the injured boy, concerned by his appearance. "What happened to you?! Did you got yourself ran over?!"

"No..." he said with a bit of difficulty, "it's just that I intervened in a fight between Applejack and Octavia."

"Ouch, that doesn't sound nice... but why were they fighting?"

"Uhm... because of me," Crowned confessed, his cheeks blushing.

"WHAT?!" Flash exclaimed in utter shock.

"I'm sorry! I-it's just... I fell in love with both of them and... I guess they did so." As he said so, his whole face became redder than Mars. Flash didn't seem to react well at this.

"...Duuude, now you really are in trouble," He said with a tone of concern.

"R-R-Really?!" Crowned began to feel scared.

"Yes... I'm gonna be honest: two girls fighting for the same guy usually leads to absolute disaster for everyone around, so I suggest you to do the only good option: You gotta choose who's gonna be with you."

"B-BUT... I HAVE TO PICK THIS SOON?!" The boy began to feel more and more nervous.

"Crowned, trust me, I had an... interesting past about it, and I can speak from experience: It can and will get worse, so you gotta choose quickly."

"But... But... I can't!"

"I know what I'm saying, friend. It's better to break a heart when it can heal... than wait until it's too late."

Flash simply walked away, looking a bit upset, like if he had remembered something. Crowned simply sighed and continued on his way inside Canterlot High.

During the day, none of the boys saw signal of AJ nor Octavia, at least in class. This was a bit of a relief for the crowned boy, although it was also something he disliked, because he really was enjoying their company. Soon the bell announcing lunch ringed and everyone rushed to the cafeteria. Crowned simply sat in an empty table, eating alone in his thoughts... That is, until he felt a pair covering his eyes.

"Guess who?" said the familiar voice of another boy.

"Aah! D-Dizzy? Is that you?"

"Hey, it's been a while since we... uuuh..." Dizzy stared at his friend for a while, bewildered by his bandages and patch on the eye. "Are you playing a pirate or did I miss something?"

"Well, it's... I... it's a long story, you see-"

"Oh! That reminds me..." the pale boy interrupted his friend, "Last weekend I went to a concert with Coco, and when they played a romantic song she cuddled next to me, and it was so sweet!"

"Uhm, yeah, good for you, but-"

"And then we headed to have some tacos, even though the girl attending us was a bit crazy like her two friends told us, but at least the tacos were delicious."

"Oh, that's nice, can I please tell you know what hap-"

"Seriously, bro, I hope you get a girlfriend soon and maybe we can go out on a double date and-"

"CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME FINISH, DIZZY?!" Crowned screamed in exasperation.

Dizzy recoiled in shock, completely stunned silent. His friend took a deep breath and calmed himself before explaining:

"Dizzy, listen: I'm happy for you, I really do, but I can't enjoy all those things because... I'm in real trouble right now."

"W-What's the matter?!" the boy said, concerned for him, "Did they ask to go for another Element? Because, and please don't tell them, I could totally go with-"

"NO, DUDE! It's... It's actually..." Crowned stammered for a bit, until he spit it out: "Applejack and Octavia want to be both my girlfriends."

"OH! MY! GOOOOOOD!!!" Dizzy screamed while putting his hands on his cheeks. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

"Yes, the two most beautiful girls on the planet want to be with me... and I don't know what to do."

Dizzy remained silent for a while, still dealing with what he just said, but sadly he just had to open his big mouth:

"...you're totally gonna choose Octavia, right?" he said, making his friend a bit angry. If only he had stopped there. "I-I mean, she has money, a secure life, and I bet you everything that she's FAR more civilized than-"

Crowned's response was a smack on the head.

"Ouch ouch ouch!"

"Dizzy, I like both of them... Like a lot," the crowned boy said, "But I can't decide who of them I want to be with."

"Well, I know I'm kinda new in this 'boyfriend business', but if you want my opinion, I'd suggest that-"

Before he could speak further, Dizzy was pushed to the floor by a certain farmer girl, who sat right next to Crowned.

"Hey there, suga'hcube," Applejack said, moving closer to him. "How are y'ah feeling today?"

"Uuuh, better than yesterday, but, uh... Dizzy..."

"Oh, he'll be fine," she responded, while subtly sticking her tongue out to the boy on the floor. "Hey, almost forgot..."

Dizzy threw a nasty look at AJ while she was busy grabbing something from her backpack, and tried to sit at the other side of his friend, but was quickly pushed back to the floor by Tavi, who took his place and sat right next to Crowned.

"Crowny, my dear!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"T-TAVI!" the crowned boy felt a mix of surprise, joy and a bit of horror.

"Look, I made something for you!" the musician then pulled from her backpack a container with a very fancy mixture of salads and assorted pastries.

"O-Oh! It looks really good," he responded, his cheeks blushing brightly.

"Hah! Just wait until he sees m'ah dish," AJ replied as she placed another container in front of him, containing all sort of apple-derived pastries.

"Oh, this actually smell swe-" Crowned was cut short when the farmer slipped a slice of apple pie into his mouth.

"Come on, just eat and see how y'ah start feeling well."

"Do you really think that a sliced apple will do that? I have a better delicacy here." Taking out a strawberry cheesecake, Tavi elegantly stuffed a piece of it inside Crowned's mouth.

"MMHMHFF!" he could barely talk as he tried chewing their dishes.

"M'ah meal is much better than hers, right sug'ahcube?" Applejack said, smirking at her rival as she stuffed another bite in his mouth.

"Oh nononono, of course mine is," Tavi responded, doing the same as the farmer.

Crowned tried to talk, but with his mouth full all that he produced was nothing but incomprehensible babbling. Dizzy simply stood up again and moved away to another table, as everyone watched the girls competing to see who had the better dishes.

"Oww, my stomach," Crowned groaned as he took his seat in his classroom, dropping his face over the desk.

"What a cute pair of girls you have, Crowned," Dizzy complained, sitting right next to him, "throwing me like I'm some kind of used napkin."

"Sorry!" he profoundly apologized, his cheeks blushing, "I-It's not my fault that... Well, that they're fighting to be with me."

"Seriously, you should settle with one and be done with this, before they get crazier ideas like-"

True to his fears, Dizzy was suddenly pushed away from his seat as Applejack sat there, moving her chair closer to Crowned.

"Hey there, suga'hcube! Y'er the one A'h was looking for!" she said enthusiastically, almost rubbing her face on him, "A'h know y'er better at Literature, so can y'ah help me with this?"

She placed her notebook in front of him, getting too close for him that his hand ended up right between her chests.

"A-APPLEJACK!" the boy couldn't help but feel his whole face turning red, and it only got worse when he felt another soft pair in his other arm.

"Hey Crowny!" Tavi exclaimed, as she moved closer to him. "You're gonna help me with my homework for tomorrow, right?"

"Ehem.... sorry, but he's already gonna help me," AJ protested, pulling her friend towards her.

"Why? I mean, I heard you have nice grades," Tavi claimed, pulling him closer to her, "I think you don't need his help."

"Really? Says the girl who's top of her class."

"Maybe I'm top of the class, but that doesn't mean I don't need help."

"Well that applies to me too!"

The two girls pulled Crowned towards each other, while giving each other menacing looks as their friend could only feel his head shaking. From the floor, Dizzy couldn't believe what he was seeing, facepalming at his buddy's situation.

Later that day after the class, Applejack and Octavia were still pulling Crowned between them, as the boy couldn't help but feel like a doll about to be torn apart.

"Crowny, we should go to the Music Room," Tavi said, trying to pull him to the right hallway, "we could practice some music together."

"How about goin' to the farm, with me, partner?" AJ suggested, as she attempted to drag him through the left hallway, "Y'ah can let me a hand, and maybe A'h can show you m'ah summer clothes."

"P-PLEASE GIRLS... C-CALM DOWN!" Crowned exclaimed, his face as red as a tomato, unable to say who he wanted to go with.

"You heard that, farmer girl? That sounds to me like he wants to do something... fancier." Tavi pulled him closer to her, as his eyes spinned in circles.

"Yeah, well maybe if he wants to fall asleep, but he's gonna help me today and perhaps more!" AJ replied, draggin the boy towards her.

"HE'S MINE!"

"NO, MINE!"

The two girls were nearly playing "Tug-O-War" with Crowned, who barely managed to mutter a faint cry of "Help".
Far away from them, Applejack's friend observed the scene with a mix of emotions, as Dizzy walked towards them, still in disbelief of the fight.

"Those girls are crazy," the pale boy bluntly said, catching the attention of the other Rainbooms, "They've pushed me to the ground twice today, and I can't imagine what they'll do if they keep this going."

"Oh, but... don't you think it's a bit romantic?" Fluttershy commented, "In a... uhm, twisted way, perhaps?"

"I think this more... savage than romantic, dear," Rarity declared, in a way enjoying the two girls fighting for the boy. "Mhmhm, let them fight."

"Uh, I don't think you want to see them fight, Rarity," Rainbow expressed, looking a bit worried. "Maybe she's not as competitive as me, but I've sparred with her, and getting into a fight with that girl is asking for trouble."

The other Rainbooms shared the same opinion and agreed on that statement.

"Speaking of 'asking for trouble', what happened with the missing element? Did you find it?" Dizzy asked the girls.

"Well, not really," Pinkie responded, not sounding pretty cheerful, “We found an entrance for one of the elements, but those meany shadows hid the other stone really well."

"At least Sunset is still investigating more about the shadows, even if it's not much," Rarity added, "She mentioned finding something about some creatures called 'changelings'."

"Yeah, but she immediately discarded that, saying those things 'would look humanoid or worse, but still physical', and then continued looking in another set of books."

"Well, at least she must find something, right Rainbow?"

The girls looked at Dizzy with a bit of concern, not entirely sure that they could find the answers. They all saw the two girls leave school still pulling Crowned between the two, as his friend only sighed at his buddy's luck.

"Oh Crowned, what a problem you got yourself into," he exclaimed, facepalming once again.

The rest of the week passed by without much change: The Rainbooms futilely looking for the missing element, Crowned stuck between Applejack and Octavia fighting to stay with him, Flash and Dizzy warning their friend about choosing one of the two before it was too late, and Sunset looking non-stop for an answer among the books in the library.
Finally, Friday arrived, and while most of the day passed like every other day of the week, by the end of the day Flash decided to check on his friend Sunset in the library.

"Sunset?" Walking inside, he tried looking for his old friend, "I don't want to interrupt you, but I think we need your heeeeEEELP!"

The last thing he expected was noticing Sunset almost buried in a mountain of books, while still reading one from the pile.

"Oh, Flash!" she exclaimed, sounding a bit overexcited and not removing her eyes from her book. "Hi! I was just reading this and... I think I found something!"

"W-Woah! You mean you read all these books in a whole week?!" Flash exclaimed, removing some books from the pile burying the girl.

"Oh, all these? Nah, I read them all today," she responded like it was no big deal.

"W-WHAT?!?! B-BUT HOW DID YOU-"

"EUREKA!!!" Sunset jumped in excitement, giving the book to Flash, "FLASH, I NEED YOU TO REUNITE EVERYBODY TOMORROW; I THINK I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH!"

"Uhm, Sunset? Tomorrow's Saturday, we don't have classes."

"R-Really?" Looking closely at her, the blue-haired boy noticed her eyes seemed tired, like she skipped sleep.

"I-I think you should take a rest, Sunset... care for me to drive you to your department?"

The girl let out a long yawn, followed by the ringing of the bell marking the end of the classes.

"...Yes, please?"

Meanwhile in one of the classrooms, Crowned was beyond stressed, not looking well. Dizzy tried to talk with his friend, concerned for his health.

"Hey buddy, feeling okay?"

"...n-no," he said stuttering, "All this week I've been receiving their affections and..."

"Dude, seriously, look at you! You'd better choose one of them before something worse happens... like maybe turning into raging she-demons."

"W-WHAT?!" Crowned was now terrified.

"I'm just kidding!" his friend quickly said, before adding: "But you know AJ has her magic powers and all that, perhaps in one of those she ends up fed up with Octavia and ends up transforming into... something."

"...Do you think that's what happened with Sunset?" the crowned boy wondered, a bit afraid of taking a decision. "She just got fed up with the world and turned into a demon?"

"Huh, what?! No! I've never had that thought about her," Dizzy responded, thinking that perhaps a bit more chatting could relax his friend further, "I really admire her, and... to be honest, I always felt like I had no chance with her because of how unworthy I feel about her, but then I met Coco and... Well, you know the rest."

Crowned simply sighed and remained thoughtful, still debating about what to do about it... But right then the door busted open as AJ and Tavi came in, discussing like always.

"Farmer, I've already told you: Crowned loves 'Royal Blue', not just regular 'blue', I', better at those details," Tavi claimed, with a bit of vanity.

"Well hear me, you snob: A'h don't care for that, A'hm stronger and can protect him from anything, that matters more than his fave shade of blue," AJ responded rudely, sounding boastful about herself.

"...perhaps, but I'm still prettier."

"Oh yeah? A'hm far more honest!"

They both stared at each other menacingly, starting to sweat from all the tension between them... and a bit of jealousy.

"...he prefers m'ah ponytail and golden hair," Applejack proclaimed, sounding a bit desperate.

"He says black hair is more elegant and beautiful."

"Well..." making a smug smile, the farmer girl said with confidence, "A'h have a bigger pair than y'ah."

"Hah! Not even you can believe tha-"

What Octavia couldn't believe was the clash between worlds that ensured when Applejack pushed hers against her chest... both watching in disbelief as their busts were just the same size. Both girls tried pushing the other, trying to pass their chest as bigger than the other, all while Crowned watched in utter shock and awe, while Dizzy simply looked away wanting nothing to do with them.

"G-GIRLS, ENOUGH!!!" Finally interfering, Crowned separated the two girls, who quickly tried to clash once again.

"Just let me get this over with her!" both girls roared in unison.

"Please, just stop... you're just making a show..." making a subtle gesture, he pointed to the pale boy trying to ignore their cat-fighting.

"But Crowny..." Tavi took a deep breath and got closer to him, "I cannot help but think that this farmer might take you away from me. It's just.... I really like you."

"Y'ah don't think A'h don't feel the same way?" AJ replied, with the same tone of doubt, "A'h fear that being with her might make y'ah forget about me and our friends... A'h don't wanna see y'ah turn into a stuck-up jerk, A'h want y'ah to be part of m'ah family."

"B-But...”

"Just accept me as your girlfriend!" they both exclaiming, pressuring the naive boy.

Crowned felt totally worked up, not knowing what to choose, caring for both of them, feeling like their fighting could never stop... but he kept his cool, and after meditating his response he said:

"C-Can we... go to the yard, please?"

The two girls looked at each other, with a clear look of uncertainty on their eyes.

"S-Sure..." they answered, leaving to where Crowned told them.

The boy took a deep breath and followed right behind them, but was stopped at the door when he heard his friend talking.

"Wait, what are you going to do, buddy?"

"I..." Crowned hesitated for a moment, but then spoke: "I think I've finally made my mind."

"Wait, you mean..." Dizzy saw as his friend left before he could finish. "C-Crowned?!"

Going behind him, Dizzy saw as the crowned boy walked to the outside, ready to tell the girls his decision. As he observed, the pale student realized someone was beside him.

"Well, there he goes... what do you think will happen?"

"Huh?" Turning to his left, he found himself right next to Flash, to whom he still had some distrust.

"Is there a problem, dude?"

"...yes, but..." As worried as he was for Flash being the mastermind behind the shadows, he was more concerned for his friend's wellbeing, "It doesn't matter now."

"Oh... okay."

The two remained silent for a moment, thinking about the situation... but Dizzy also had something else in mind.

"...Fifty bucks if he chooses Applejack."

"Excuse me?" Flash was surprised to hear that.

"Come on, I know you well, I'm sure you cannot refuse a good bet when it presents itself."

"I don't know..." Dizzy began to feel nervous about his sudden hesitation. "I saw his face and-"

"HEY FLASH, DIZZY!" suddenly the voice of Norman interrupted them as he arrived unexpectedly, with fifty bucks in hand, "I heard you were betting, and I think he's gonna choose Octavia."

"...And this is what I get for betting... Alright then," the pale boy accepted unenthusiastically. "You know, I might've bet on Octavia, but I'm aware Crowned has this strange fascination with abs."

Flash saw the two guys betting, and feeling confident, he also decided to go with it.

"...I'll beat you two," he responded as he pulled out fifty dollars.

"Oh, so you're going in, huh?" Dizzy felt a bit of relief, and now was curious about his choice, "Who do you think he's gonna choose?"

Flash looked over at the yard for a moment, where Crowned was about to make his choice, and finally responded to the other guys...

"Sorry for you, farmer girl," Octavia said to her rival, "Your time is finally over, but I hope you at least enjoyed Crowned's company."

"That's what y'ah think," AJ responded with anger, "Y'all see how he chooses to be with me over y'ah."

"Shut up, you... Farm girl!"

"Stuck up!"

"GIRLS!" Crowned shouted at them, making them stop.

The two girls looked at him nervously, wondering who he was going to choose, and the cold weather wasn't helping at all.

"S-Sorry, Crowny," Octavia said stammering, "a lady shouldn't be acting like this, it's just-"

"Who are y'ah gonna choose?" AJ added, with the same nervousness as the musician.

Crowned looked at both girls, feeling the cold wind on his back. He had thought about what to say in his way there, but even then he was afraid to say it. The boy took a deep breath, and finally, he took his decision:

"...I've been thinking about this through the whole week, standing your fights, and accepting your affections, which... well, it's been a torture to me, because that only made making a choice the more difficult... but then I talked with Dizzy, and how he used to have a great crush over Sunset... he might still admire her, but he never felt worthy of her, and stopped trying to get with her... And after thinking about it... I think I'll the same."

"W-What are you talking about?"

"I..." He stuttered for a moment, with his head bowed, but made it clear to them: "I don't feel worthy of any of you two... that's why I choose none of you."

"W-WHAT?!" Both girls replied in shock.

"It's just... it's..." Even he was feeling bad for his decision, but was sure it was the best, "It's just that you two make me too happy to be with, and I can't keep postponing my decision, I could be only hurting you both... I really like... no, I really LOVE both of you so much, that I prefer that you go and find someone else that truly makes you happy, than having to choose who of you gets to be happy and the other is left heartbroken... I-I'm sorry."

The two girls listened to him in disbelief, while he turned around and ran away as fast as he could, hoping that his decision was for the best, and that they could eventually find happiness.

"Crowned..." AJ tried to chase after him, as tears started to fall from her eyes, "CROWNED, WAIT!!! NO... no..."

"Oh no... NO... CROWNY!!!" Octavia fell to her knees crying, still coping with his beloved's answer.

Both girls felt a mix of anger and sadness as they saw Crowned disappear in the distance. Applejack turned back to Octavia, ready to place the blame on her.

"ARE Y'AH HAPPY NOW?! This is what y'ah wanted after all, didn't y'ah!?"

"Y-YOU'RE STILL SAYING IT'S MY FAULT FOR THIS?!" the gray girl tried hiding her tears. "I WAS VERY HAPPY WITH HIM UNTIL YOU ARRIVED!!!"

"ARE Y'AH SURE?! BECAUSE AS FAR AS A'H REMEMBER, HE TRIED TO ASK ME OUT WHEN Y'AH APPEARED!!!"

"YES, AFTER YOU REJECTED HIM!!!" AJ started to feel her anger growing, and so did Tavi.

"A'H DIDN'T REJECT HIM!!! A'H WAS JUST NOT READY!!!"

"AND YOU THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO WAIT UNTIL YOU WERE?!"

Applejack tried to respond, but the truth was that she was right, all that came from her mouth was weak groan of anger.
They remained looking at each other with anger for a moment, but then they both felt the cold sensation of rain beginning to fall. Afraid that someone could see her in her state, Octavia ran towards the Great Apple Tree, and Applejack followed her soon after. Water dropped from the skies the same way the tears kept gushing from their eyes.

"N-Noo..." the musician sniffed and tried cleaning her face, to no avail, "W-Why... WHY?!"

"Can y'ah please... Stop... Being... A CRY BABY?!" Applejack screamed at her, as she struggled to contain her own tears.

"I JUST HAD THE KINDEST PERSON I'VE MET LEAVING ME, HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL?!"

"DO Y'AH REALLY THINK A'H DON'T FEEL THE SAME WAY?!" Their eyes met against each other, and realizing they both felt the same sadness. "Yes, A'hm just as hurt as y'ah are... Just in case y'ah thought a'h had no heart just for being a 'farmer girl'."

Applejack sat down trying to cope with her mixture of emotions, dealing with the fact they might have lost Crowned forever. They both felt terribly awful, sharing a guilt over the incident. Octavia looked over to her partner, and how despite her efforts she was still crying.

"A-Applejack... I... I never had seen you crying like that," she said with calm.

"S-Shush..." AJ replied, still upset.

"I-I was being honest..." Tavi persisted, hoping to settle things with her, "I always see you playing rough and... getting hurt a lot, you carry loads of heavy stuff without problems and... endured things that could've other girls cry, yet you never did.

AJ turned to face her for a moment, and then lowered her hat and simply said:

"...that should tell y'ah how much this mattered to me."

Realizing her emotions, Octavia reflected on everything she thought of her, and felt terribly sorry for it. She tried to walk toward her, wanting to apologize, but the farmer realized and stopped her.

"D-don't get close here..." she said coldly, "It's all muddy, and y'ah don't wanna get that fine dress of y'ers dirty."

"I-I'm not worried... It doesn't matter, really," the musician replied as she sat near her. Applejack looked in a bit of disbelief.

"...A'h thought all y'all rich men only cared for their fashion, money and business."

"T-that's what you thought of me?" Tavi let out a small chuckle. "I should've known there was a reason you hated me..."

"B-But y'ah looked like..."

"Trust me, if you know how my first year of Middle School was in Crystal Prep. Now those were real stuck-up snobs, firmly believing they are above you just because they have money, and only wanting to be with you for your wealth and ties that benefits them... Not like here, where everyone is more... honest."

"Y-Y'ah really think so?" Now Applejack was the one feeling horrible for all she said and did against her.

"Yes... I chose to be transferred here because I truly wanted a friendlier environment, and... Not only did I like it... I ended up meeting Crowny and... And..." Tavi was about to start crying again, but her partner approached her and cleaned her tears away.

"L-Let's try to not think about that... M-maybe we just need to talk other things like... did y'ah know this tree was planted by m'ah Granny?"

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, it was a gift from the Apple family to the first principal of Canterlot High, and it's been grown since then."

Tavi looked at the big tree sheltering them from the rain, and couldn't help but smile a bit.

"It’s... a very nice tree," she said, feeling like she was in control of her emotions once again. "At least... we didn't disappoint this one."

They remained silent for a long while, watching the rain falling in front of them. They thought about their discussions and fights all through the week, feeling remorse for misjudging each other.

"Octavia... A-A'h think we really screwed up now," Applejack said, lowering her head.

"You don't say," Tavi added, sighing as she turned to her partner, "Applejack, I'm really sorry for everything I made you go through."

"No no, A'hm the one who's sorry. A'h should've let y'ah let you be with Crowned instead of... getting jealous of you."

AJ lowered further her hat, covering her whole face, but Tavi quickly raised it again and looking into her eyes she said:

"Applejack, you are such a hard-working girl, always helping other... I think you deserve more than anyone else to have a nice boyfriend that loves and supports you."

The girl smiled for a moment, and Octavia smiled at her too, feeling a huge relief of finally having settle their differences.

"I-I guess we should've done this before... maybe that we would've... kept our hearts intact." Tavi shed a single tear when she remembered how moments ago Crowned basically rejected both of them.

"A'h know... Seriously, A'h don't know what got into me. I-It was just so new to me that A'h didn't know how to react... And A'h feel ashamed as the woman in charge of the Apple family."

The musician was surprised to hear those words from her.

"D-Did you just said "in charge"?

"Eeyup... Y'ah knew why A'h live with my Granny?"

"No, I never heard why," Octavia wanted to know more from her. "What happened to your parents?"

"...they left when A'h was younger... and never came back."

"Oh gosh... I-I'm sorry," the girl apologized, feeling bad for asking her about that event.

"No need to worry, Tavi," AJ said to soothe her, "A'hve been working on the farm since A'h was a young girl since then, it's not something that affects me so much. A'hve been doing the most that A'h can in the family business, but Granny insists that A'h should finish High School first... and that's why A'hm here, but as soon as A'hm done with m'ah studies, it's back to the farm for me."

"So that's why..." Octavia covered her face with her hands, feeling more ashamed, "Oh Applejack... If I had known about this... But wait, you aren't planning on doing a career?"

Applejack looked hesitating for a moment, and confessed:

"...Maybe A'h do, but Granny... A'h don't know how much time she'll be around, and we don't have that much money for me to maintain the farm and pursue my studies."

"AJ, I've seen your Granny, I'm sure she's still gonna be around for many years more. And besides..." the farmer felt how she suddenly grabbed her hand, with a look of care in her face. "...I don't think you have to worry much about money... with a friend like me."

"O-Octavia? W-What are y'ah saying?" she responded in surprise, looking at her gesture.

"Applejack, I'm very, very sorry for everything I did to you. I had no idea of how you truly were, and I promise to never insult you like I did. Maybe we can start again and... Try to be friends together?"

"B-But..." Now it was the blonde girl who held the other's hand, "If anyone must apologize, it's me: A'h was the one who tried to take Crowned from y'ah and..."

"I-It's okay... We should try to forget this, start from scratch and... And..." Tavi began to stammer, and more tears dropped from her eyes.

"...Y'er still thinking about 'im, right? About what happened?"

"...yes." Feeling about to tear up again, Tavi hugged her new friend and whimpered for a moment, as AJ tried to calm her down. "...I really love him."

They continued comforting each other for a while, thinking what they should do with Crowned, now that he had rejected them both as girlfriends.

"...Tavi?" Applejack began saying, "How about we just... make amends after all this, leave that silly rivalry aside, and go apologize with Crowned for all we made him go through and hope he accept us as friends?"

"B-But... I don't know if..."

"Tavi, A'hm sure he will always say yes to y'ah."

"No, no, no, if he'll yes to someone, that's going to be you, AJ," Tavi responded, looking at her with care.

"Octaviaaa, don't make this harder that it is." The two girls managed to chuckle a bit, starting to feel closer, finally knowing how the other truly was.

In that moment, when she saw how much they both cared for Crowned, and how they actually seemed to like each other, Octavia came up with something.

"Applejack?" The blonde girl turned her head to face her, "I-I know this will sound weird... but... If we just forget about being her girlfriend and just... be close confidents with him? Like, her best friends?"

"Y'ah mean, like..."

"A-At least until he decides who he wants to be with..." she added, covering a bit her now blushing face, "T-that way we can be both with him without fighting and... Maybe be happy when he eventually chooses one of us."

Applejack couldn't help but smile at her idea.

"Hehehe, A'h like that idea... but what if he still doesn't settle for one of us two?"

"...then maybe we'll have to move to Dubai," Tavi responded, much to her friend's confusion.

"Dubai?"

"Y-You know, in Saddle Arabia, it's more acceptable that..." she felt a bit ashamed to continue, and her whole face turned red as AJ tried... and failed, to contain her laughter.

"Pffft! AHAHAHAH, DOESN'T SOUND SO BAD, HAHAHA!" She proceeded to tightly hug Octavia, bringing her closer to her, "Come here, sug'ahcube!"

"Oh, dear friend..."

They remained hugging for a moment, as a warm sensation invaded their bodies. The rain had already stopped, but they continued hugging for many minutes, enjoying the mutual sensation.

"Thank you, my farmer friend."

"Thank you, my dear rich friend."

They remained like that for a while, the last drops of rain falling from the tree as the wind began to blow with all its strength.

"Looks like the rain is finally gone," Applejack noticed, stretching her arm to feel no more drops falling. "A'h think we should get our stuff and go home before it starts raining again."

"Agreed," Octavia said as her friend helped her stand up. "Thanks, let's go inside quickly."

They quickly rushed back into the school to grab their backpacks and leave the school, without noticing that, right behind them, the tree had started to glow: The once green leaves began shining in a bright blue light that covered the whole tree, as a strange, powerful breeze began to blow, apparently coming from the tree itself.
The girls were right at the backdoor when the powerful breeze pushed them inside, almost making them fall down.

"WOAH! Did you feel that?" Octavia exclaimed, turning to face her friend. "I think there's a storm approaching, we need to... Applejack?"

AJ didn't respond, she instead noticed her element began glowing, and felt something odd about the breeze.

"Tavi, A'h don't think this is a storm... or regular wind, to be honest." The farmer walked back to the back door, and opened it wide to let the breeze in. She felt the strong wind blowing, as a pair of leaves flew by, following a set trail; she also noticed her necklace was shining bright, just like the leaves.

"...Octavia, A'h know this might sound strange, but..." she turned around and with a look of determination, she said: "We need to follow those leaves."

"Wait, why are you...?" In that moment, Tavi realized what she meant with that. "...I need to go for something first."

"What are y'ah talking a- Octavia?!" She had no time to question her as the cellist girl ran through the halls, having to follow her trail.

AJ followed her all the way to the music hall, where she found her friend picking up a sable from her cello case.

"Huh?! What in the... Is that really..."

"Please don't tell anybody I sneaked this," Octavia said with her cheeks blushing, "This was a gift from an uncle of mine from one of his trips, and I've been using this to deal with the shadows my way. Perhaps that way I can be more useful."

"Help me? Wait, how do you...?"

"...know about the magical stones you're looking around school?" Applejack's eyes opened wide when her friend said that. "Crowned told me. In fact I helped him retrieve one of those."

"Hold on... Y'AH MEAN Y'AH WERE THE ONE WHO HELPED CROWNY THAT ONE TIME?!"

"Mmhmm, yes I am," she confessed, her cheeks shining even brighter, "But let's not talk about that now, we have a trail to follow."

Octavia left the room in a hurry, as AJ tried to recover her composure from the impression.

"...A-Alright, maybe we'll talk later." She followed her friend right behind her, as they saw the wind carrying a trail of leaves through the hallways, in a fixed path.

The leaves lead the girls all the way to the school basement, where the pipelines and maintenance equipment laid almost abandoned, only accumulating dust and dirt.

"Yuck, this is so bloody nasty," Octavia expressed with disgust, "Somebody needs to clean this place as soon as possible."

"Well, supposedly the Principal wanted to give some maintenance to this place, but the shadows scared all the workers away," Applejack explained. "Nobody has bothered to come here since then... Except us, of course."

"Sounds like the perfect place for the shadows to hide the stones."

"Exactly, but the thing is... M'ah friends and A'h had been here before, and we found nothin' around here," she explained, illuminating the dark basement with her element, "So why did the wind guide us..."

"Wait, Applejack, look!" Tavi exclaim as she pointed towards a large brick wall, noticing the leaves clashing into it, "Don't you see something odd?"

Applejack inspected more closely at the indicated place, and after looking right into it, she noticed a strange detail: Some of the leaves appeared to have moved part of the bricks.

"Well tie me up, it's a fake wall!" She exclaimed amazed, but then she realized something, "But, why didn't the Elements notice this befo-"

She tried to touch the wall, but her hand was quickly repelled by a powerful shock.

"YEOUCH! Of course... they cursed it," AJ shook her hand, still feeling the stinging sensation, "It must've been enchanted to repel our magic."

"In that case, let me handle this." Octavia softly pushed her friend aside, and holding her sable with elegance, she swung the weapon against the bricks, which were slowly being pushed back until it couldn't hold on anymore and felt apart. "Ta-da! The path is open."

"Octavia... remind me to never anger y'ah when holding anything sharp," the farmer said in shock, amazed at the musician's unknown talents.

The two girls walked to the newly open path, finding themselves in a wide, pitch-black room full of dust.

"Agh, I can't see anything," Tavi complained, "Care to enlighten us, dear?"

"With pleasure, my dear." Applejack grabbed her necklace and, using her magic, illuminated the room.

As the necklace began to brighten everything, the girls noticed several shovels laying on the floor, as well as bags of concrete, blueprints, and several other building materials scattered all over the place.

"What is this place supposed to be, some kind of abandoned masonry workshop?"

"No, wait!" Applejack noticed something strange on one of the prints, and grabbing it she decided to read it, only to discover something even odder: "T-This seems to be the blueprints of the school's structure, but... Look at the date."

She pointed her necklace to the paper like a lantern, as Tavi approached and read the date written on it: it was from just two months ago.

"That date... Wasn't it two months ago that some contractors left a classroom halfway through reparations when they claimed a bunch of ghosts stole their tools?"

"Eeyup, seems we just found them," AJ said as she looked over all the scattered things in the room. "A'h remember Luna blaming some students for it, saying tha' it was just the work of a bunch of prankster. How wrong we were."

"Yeah..." Tavi picked up a couple of hammers from the floor, still with a doubt on her head. "But wait, why could the shadows steal such mundane stuff like these?"

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER TO YOU!" A mysterious voice screamed at them from within the darkness, startling the two girls who shrieked out of surprise.

Aware that said voice could only come from a shadow, AJ and Tavi adopted battle positions, holding their elemental jewel and sable respectively. They noticed a silhouette popping from below the ground and aimed to it, but to their surprise... it turned out to be none other than Flash.

"FLASH SENTRY?!" Applejack exclaimed in shock, about to walk towards him, "W-What are y'ah doing here?"

"Applejack, wait!" Octavia stopped her buddy, recognizing something was off with "Flash". "He might look like him, but I'd remember that armor at any place: It's the same shadow that attacked me and Crowned that night."

"Hmhmhmh, well, you aren't as easy to fool as I expected," the shadow spoke, its voice mimicking that of Flash, ash he revealed to be holding the lost stone in his hands. "We're you two looking for this?"

"The Element!" The two girls exclaimed, then AJ added: "A'hm surprised your minions hid it so well, cursin' the fake wall they built here."

"No, I'm the one who's amazed with you, girls," "Flash" said in a menacing distorted voice, "Forcing my shadows to hide the elements from you, you're lucky we can't carry these rocks through walls... I would've dealt with all of you already."

"Okay, enough with the villain speeches, just give us the stone and we'll go soft on you," Octavia pointed her sword at the impostor.

"...Really? And here I thought you were smarter than that," the shadow mocked them, gaining an unfriendly glare from both. "I don't care if you have your elements with you, I still have enough power to stop, because after all, you're still just a couple of foolish mortals."

Angered at his comments, Applejack fired a blast from her element to the impostor, but it simply covered himself with his dark wings, blocking the attack and keeping him harmless.

"WHAT IN THE-" her words were interrupted when she felt the ground moving... Or more specifically, everything that was scattered on the floor.

Suddenly, right in the middle of the room, another shadow surged from the floor. The Dark Flash floated towards it, placing the stone right in its core.

"GO, MY SERVANT," he yelled with his distorted voice, "DESTROY THEM BOTH, AND TAKE THAT ELEMENT FROM HER NECK!"

The new shadow let out a fearsome roar as Dark Flash vanished among the darkness. His servant proceeded to call forth everything around it: pickaxes, shovels, and bags of concrete flew towards the monster, until it became an amalgamation of grotesque appearance.

"Oh... bollocks," Octavia muttered, looking at the massive creature of concrete and metal, "This is worse than that paint monster."

"...Y'ah seriously need to tell me everything about that night after this," Applejack snarked, as the monster roared and attempted to slam them with what barely resembled 'hands'.

The girls barely managed to jump out of the way, as the massive weight of the concrete hit the floor with tremendous force. Standing up once again, AJ though the monster's size could make it clumsy, and attempted to hit it before it raised it arm again... but to her horror the creature moved at a surprising speed and slammed her with the back of its other "hand". Without time to react, she barely covered herself as the monster launched her into a wall.

"APPLEJACK!" Tavi screamed terrified, fearing the worse. Watching the monster "walk" towards her, she ran as fast as she could and passed between its "legs" right as it attempted to crush her. Reaching her friend, she was worried that the gargantuan had damaged severely, and checked for injuries... until she stopped her.

"Ouch... F'er an obscenely giant beast, that thing moves pretty fast." Standing up again, Applejack managed to perceive something right behind her friend, "TAVI, LOOK OUT!!!"

Noticing the giant mace-like arm about to fall, Tavi pushed her friend out of the way, trying to avoid more of the giant's swings.

"ANY PLAN TO DEAL WITH THAT... DARK... BOULDERSTEIN... WHATEVER IT IS?!" Applejack couldn't believe her attempt at naming the monster.

"FIRST: WE CAN LEAVE THE NAMES 'TILL AFTER THE FIGHT, OKAY?!" she scolded her partner, "Second: A'h do have a plan, but A'h need y'ah to distract it. Think y'ah can do that?"

"I-I'll give it a try."

Watching the monster moving closer, they scrambled and moved in opposite directions. Noticing some pebbles on the floor, Tavi threw them to the giant, calling its attention. Losing all focus on AJ, the shadow monster tried to crush Octavia, swinging both arms against her, but she was still swift enough to get out of the way. Realizing this was her chance, the farmer grabbed her Element and charged a magic blast, ready to fire at the shadow.

"HEY, Y'AH STEPPING STONE!" She screamed at it, and right when it turned its "head" to face her, she blasted it with her Element... which did nothing to the creature, who let out what barely resembled a chuckle, "W-WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!"

"Maybe the fact your bloody attack was useless?" Tavi snarked from across the room.

"A'HM NOT BLIND, TAVI!!!"

Having called its attention, the monster began to swing its arms against the farmer girl, who began to dodge as fast as she could. Seeing her in danger, Tavi tried to run to get her out of the way... that is, until she noticed something in the monster's arm.

"Wait, is that a crack?" She thought as her focus turned against that possible weakness. "Perhaps with a good swing..."

Grabbing her sable with firmness, she ran right towards the monster, and as soon as it tried to slam Applejack again, she swung her weapon against the already broken concrete, with a precise blow that broke the whole arm, which fell to the floor instantly turning into bits.

"Are you okay, my friend?" Tavi said as she helped her partner to stand up, as the monster roared in apparent pain.

"Yeah, thank y'ah a lot, Tav-" Suddenly, the creature grew a shadowy arm to replace the lost limb, and slammed it against the musician, launching her away. "TAVI!!!"

Thankfully, without all the concrete, the blow wasn't severe for the girl. Applejack, on the other hand, was beyond angry.

"HEY, BIG FELLA! THINK Y'AH CAN MESS WITH M'AH FRIEND?!" Trying once again, she blasted the monster with her Element... but this time, when it hit the shadowy arm, it blew into pieces, as the monster roared in pain, grabbing where its limb used to be. "Wait, THAT'S IT! Tavi?"

Octavia managed to stand up, cleaning away the dirt from her clothing.

"YES, AJ?!" she responded to her.

"LISTEN, A'H NEED YOUR HELP..." pointing at the monster, she put it as simple as she could, "CAN Y'AH LEND ME A HAND BLOWING THAT MASS OF CONCRETE DOWN?"

"...Oh, I see what you're planning now, Jackie," Octavia responded with a smile, "And it'll be a pleasure to help."

Scrambling once again, AJ began distracting the monster, calling its attention against her. She drove it as close as possible, and moved out of the way as it tried to slam her to the ground, but as soon as its arm was down, Tavi swung her sable against it, breaking it down. Once its shadowy arm appeared, the farmer lost no time and blasted it away with her Element. Losing both arms, the amalgamation roared in frustration, and tried ramming against the two. But like if it was a simple bull, they moved out of the way, as each one alternated between swinging her weapon against its cracks, and blasting the exposed shadow with magic. Slowly, the creature was barely a thin tower of concrete with the core almost exposed, and collapsed into its "knees" from exhaustion.

"Heheheh, that doesn't look strong now," Applejack laughed, watching the monster reduced to a pathetic nuisance. "A'h think it's time to try something new."

Preparing her arm, Octavia noticed how it was slowly being surrounded by the Element's magic.

"Do you really think Mr. Ugly Monster deserves that?"

"Well, it hit y'ah, didn't it?" The creature let out a small groan of confusion, raising its core at the right height.

"Okay, you convinced me."

Giving no time to react, Octavia swung her sword against the monster's core and kicked it right in the center, breaking it down and revealing the Element of Harmony.

"YEEEHAAAW!!!" Running like a freight train, Applejack hit the shadow's core and sent the Element flying away from its body, which shattered with her super-strength.

Finally, the girls managed to take a breath, having defeated another shadow, and recovering yet another Element.

"Wow... That. Was. AMAZING!" Octavia squee'd from joy, holding her friend's arms.

"Oh, but that was all thanks to y'ah," AJ complimented her.

"Come on, that punch of yours? WOAAH! You must be the World's Strongest Girl right now!"

"Awww, don't make me blush, suga'hcube!"

"Sugarcube... I think I'll get used to that name."

They both continued laughing as they left the room, Element in hand. They proceeded to finally take their stuff and left the school, deciding to take a small detour towards Flash's place.

"One-hundred forty-seven, One-hundred forty-eight, One-hundred forty-nine, One-hundred fifty!" Flash finished counting the pile of bucks on his hand, with a huge grin of satisfaction, having won the bet.

Suddenly, the boy heard someone knocking at his door, yet he didn't expect any visits. Placing his honest-won money on a table, he went to open the door, and who else had arrived but Applejack.

"Oh, uhm... Applejack, didn't expect you here," he said with shyness, remembering only the break-up, "Is everything okay? No hard feeling over Crowned? Uh... Why are you covered in dust?"

"A'hm fine, Flash, don't worry about me," she calmly responded, to his surprise, "It's just that-"

"HEY, DON'T YOU DARE LEAVING ME BEHIND!" From behind the farmer, Flash recognized a certain rich girl approaching... looking actually friendly towards AJ.

"W-Wait wait wait wait wait! But... I thought you two... Weren't you angry at each other?!" The boy's mind was now a mess, trying to compute the sudden change of emotions.

"Long story, Flash. The point is..." AJ then grabbed something from her backpack, and handed it to him, "A'h believe Sunset could love to see this."

Flash looked confused for a second, and then recognized the stone in his hands.

"WOAHWOAHWOAH, I-IS THIS ONE OF THE ELEMENTS..." His opened wide with amazement as soon as realization hit him. "T-THE LOST ELEMENT?!"

"Eeyup! And y'ah can thank my new friend Octavia for that."

"Aaw, Applejack, you flatter me!" Octavia responded with a cute blush, "But it wasn't really all me. If it wasn't for that tree, I think we couldn't have found that stone."

"Uh, 'tree'?"

"A'h shall tell y'ah another day, Flash. Just keep that stone safe for now and tell us, where did Crowned go?"

"Oh, Crowned... Uhm... I don't think it's a good idea to visit him right now," Flash scratched his head, feeling a bit nervous. "You see, after he... made his choice, he said he wanted to be left alone and ran home. And if he sees you, well..."

"Hey, we were the ones who screwed up in the first place," Octavia explained, "We just want to apologize with him and... go back to being good friends."

"I still think it's not the right moment, but... If you really want to talk with him, this is his address." Flash then sent the girls their friend's address via message, and just as fast as they arrived, Tavi and AJ hurried to see Crowned.

"THANK Y'AH FLASH!"

"You're welcome, girls!" He waved them farewell, feeling a bit of joy of seeing them having amended fences. "It feels so nice to be right."

Not much later, the girls finally arrived at Crowned's place, but much to their surprise the found the door was open. Getting a bit worried, they both sneaked in silently, only to find quite the scenery: Dizzy was facepalming hard, while Crowned was face-down over his table, with a glass of liquor on his hand and tears all through his face.

"I can't believe it, Crowned," Dizzy said in a scolding voice. "You had your chance, and you rejected them both?! On top of everything, you made me lost that bet!!! ...At least I know we're dealing with the Flash we know and somehow manage to tolerate."

The boy with the crown didn't answer, barely a whimper came from his lips. Watching him made such a mess was too much for Octavia.

"AAAH, CROWNY!!!" She yelled as she ran towards him, making his companion jump from the surprise.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?!" Dizzy said somewhat between angry and shocked.

"That's the same thing we want to know, pasty."

"...You just had to bring back that nickname, AJ," he answered unamused. "I just came to support my friend after you two left him like that."

"Oh dear... he got drunk because of us?" Octavia wondered with concern.

"Yup."

"How many bottles has he drank?" asked AJ.

"Only one."

"And how many glasses?"

"...Only one."

"Y'ah mean that's his second glass?"

"Pfft, hahahahahah... Nope." The girls looked at each other, completely lost.

"B-But... that glass is still full!"

"Exactly, Octavia."

They both tried not to laugh, just thinking about how much of a lightweight he turned out to be.

"Oh suga'hcube, we really need to teach him how to drink," Applejack joked, not to the amusement of Dizzy.

"How, torturing him again until he gets drunk?" He gave the girls a pretty mean look... a serious mistake as both girls whacked him and pushed the boy out of the house.

"Sorry, but this now a private moment between us, okay pasty?" AJ responded as she locked him out of the door.

"W-WAIT A MINUTE! First of all, I'm light-grey. Second, what are you talking ab-" Dizzy then realized they weren't anywhere near the door now. "...HELLO?!"

Back inside, Applejack and Octavia walked near their still fainted friend, wondering how to wake him up.

"Okay, with the pasty gone, what do we do with Crowny, AJ?"

"Well, A'h have some experience with this," she began explaining. "A'hve seen Big Mac get like this when drinking too much cider, but it has its trick, just watch."

She then proceeded to grab a lock of his hair, she twisted it and ripped it out with strength.

"AAAAAH!!!" Crowned woke up screaming. "O-Ouch..."

"See, it worked," the farmer said proudly.

"M-My head... What happeneeeeeeEEEH!!! AAAH!!!" Overwhelmed from having both girls right next to him, he fell backwards from his chair. "Ouch."

"Crowned!" Noticing he was still a bit drunk, they carried him to the sofa, "Are you okay?"

"I-I think sooo.... W-What are you doing here?" he asked nervously with teary eyes.

"We came for y'ah, Crowny," Applejack said softly.

"B-But... I told you not... to follow me anymore."

The two girls sat near their friend, giving him a kind hug.

"We're sorry... It was out fault for getting all jealous about each other."

"If only we had spoken like responsible adult instead of childishly fighting..."

"We... we don't want y'ah to hate us for that."

"Yes... W-We wanna be friends with you, and get along without fighting."

Crowned was surprised at how well his friends got along now.

"B-But... W-what about being your boyfriend?"

"Suga'hcube, y'ah don't have to choose now," AJ said, smiling at him, "We both care for you and... well, we also enjoy each other."

"So, how about continue being buddies, us three?" Tavi looked at him in the eyes, smiling cutely. "What do you say?"

"W-WHAT?!" Crowned couldn't believe that was happening. "B-But what if they say things about you two?!"

"Hmhm, I think that's the least important thing, after all I could be friends with the cutest boy I could ever meet, and the strongest farmer in the world, and that's enough for me."

"Well, y'ah hear our dear beloved 'stuck-up moneybags', if she doesn't worry about that, neither do A'h. After all..."

"We both love you, silly," they said in unison, kissing him in the cheeks.

Crowned's skin changed from blue to red in a blink, feeling like he was the luckiest boy in the entire world.

"I-I... GIRLS, YOU... YOU'RE BOTH CRAZY, BUT YOU'RE THE GIRLS I LOVE!" They all hugged together, smiling after finally getting along well as good friends.

They remained hugging for a moment, and feeling it was the right moment, he said:

"G-Girls?" They both turned their heads to face him. "I-I know we're just friends, but..."

To their surprise, Crowned approached his face towards Tavi, and out of a sudden kissed her gently on her lips.

"O-OH MY... MY FIRST KISS?" A silly smile appeared on her face, as she passed from gray to red.

"I-It's mine too..."

"Oh, is that so, suga'hcube?" Taking him by surprise, AJ grabbed his face and also gave her a kiss... with tongue. "That's how we do it at the farm."

"W-Woah... m-my first tongue kiss?" Crowned's eyes were now spinning in circles.

"Hehehe, guess that makes up for the week, don't you agree, Crowny?"

"I-I guess..." he couldn't help but smile... at the same time a feeling of exhaustion invaded him, "Well, I guess it's time..."

"Time? Time for what?" Octavia asked in confusion.

"It's Friday, the sun is already down... I think we should take advantage and have our first sleepover," he explained as his cheeks turned red once again.

"But... I didn't bring any pajamas," the musician said, only for AJ to giggle.

"We don't need stinkin' pajamas, my dear."

Surprising both of her friends, the farmer simply took of her skirt and shirt, walking in her underwear and a white undershirt.

"APPLE-APPLE-APPLE-APPLEJACK!!!" Crowned was about to become a completely new shade of red just from watching her.

"It doesn't bother y'ah at all, right, Crowny?"

"N-NOT AT ALL, BUT..."

"You know? That's actually quite the idea," Tavi said, following her friend and taking of her shirt and skirt.

"OHGIRLSYOUDON'THAVETO..."

"Wait, how could A'h forget?" AJ smirked as she approached Crowned, "You also have to take your clothes."

"E-E-EXCUSE ME?!"

His two friends laughed together, and before he could protest they left him only in underwear too... and in quite the underwear.

"A-Are those really Pokémon themed?" AJ tried to hold her laughter.

"D-Don't say that..." He didn't know if it was the shame, the nervousness or a bit of hangover, but Crowned felt his head spinning.

"What's the matter, is the king surrendering to his queens?"

Just when he thought he couldn't blush further, Crowned accepted her challenge.

"Oh, you aren't beating me, girls!"

Grabbing them by surprise, he gave them the tickles as revenge.

"AHAHAH, ENOUGH SUG'AHCUBE! AHAHAHAH, SILLY CROWNY." Applejack laughed as she counterattacked with her own dose of tickles.

"OH DEAR... AHAHAHA, STOP HIM, JACKIE! HAHAHAH... TOO MANY TICKLES!" Tavi exclaimed, also following their game.

"NEVEEER, TICKLES FOR MY DEAREST GIRLS!!!" Crowned kept on tickling them, as they moved from the living room to his bedroom, where they continued their game until they fell exhausted on the bed, the three cuddling together.

"Oh girls... I really love you."

"So do I, Crowny," AJ said, looking at both her friends.

"So do we, you mean," Tavi corrected, giving them a playful smirk.

And so they went to sleep, Crowned passing out quicker than the others. After everything that happened that week, they deserved some rest, since next week they knew things could get even more interesting. There was just something that was still on Applejack's mind.

"Psst, Octavia."

"W-What's the matter, Jackie?" she asked, while her friend hesitated to make her question. "Jackie?"

Finally, taking a deep breath, as her whole face turned red, she asked:

"...Where in the hay is Dubai?"

END OF CHAPTER.

Author's Note

BECAUSE SCREW IT, THIS DESERVES THE OBLIGATORY "TO BE CONTINUED" MUSIC.

Well, this was quite the chapter to edit. In fact, this whole episode was part of a whole along the previous one... You can see why I divided them in two. So... yeah, Crowned, Applejack and Tavi have something shared between them three. If you have a problem with that, I'll try to ease it with further chapters, especially now that there's only one Element left. What will happen next time? What is behind the strange Dark Flash? And why do I make this obvious questions? Well... Even I don't know.
Just hope you enjoyed the chapter, and see ya guys next time.

Ch7: The Clock Tower

The following week after Applejack and Octavia had their little incident, the Rainbooms were once again reunited in the usual classroom, all with the exception of Twilight and Applejack.

"Where in hell is her?" Sunset wondered, having not seen her that morning, "She's been arriving pretty late these days."

"All I know is that her sister told me that she was in a friend's home, but didn't say who," Dash mentioned, trying to think of where she could be.

"OOH! OOH! I bet she's with Twilight, she's the only one who's not here!" Pinkie tried to guess with enthusiasm.

"Uhmm, I-I'm not so sure..." Fluttershy said, "I heard that something bad happened after the last class the past Friday... Or so I heard."

"Oh, that's right, I heard she was fighting with Octavia for that boy, Crowned," Rarity giggled, thinking about her friend having her first crush.

"What?! Are you serious?!" Rainbow was in disbelief, "Awww, why didn't she tell us?! I wanted to see her give the boot to that boring moneybags!"

"Dash, please," Sunset scolded her, "Octavia isn't a bad person to wish her that, and it's not our fault you just hate classic music."

"But... what if she was expelled for that?" Fluttershy was now feeling nervous, but Rarity intervened.

"Oh nonononono, don't even think about it, Fluttershy. Besides, if that was the case she could've already told us this weekend."

"Then what do you think happened to her?"

"It's simple, Rainbow: She "won" Crowned for herself, and decided to spend the whole weekend at his house."

"T-The whole weekend?" Sunset blushed just from thinking about it. "Oh my, but that sounds kinda... improbable, don't you think?"

"Well I don't know about you, but if I had a boyfriend, I could spend a whole weekend alone with him," the fashionista expressed her point of view, her face going all red.

"Oh Rarity..." Sunset covered her face as she blushed too, probably even more than Rarity.

Surprising them, the door suddenly opened as Flash entered the room and greeted his friends.

"Hey, I'm not interrupting you, right?"

"Oh, not at all, buddy," Sunset uncovered her face and felt a bit more comfortable with him near, "Hello, by the way."

"Hey Flash!" the rest of the Rainbooms greeted their old pal.

"Okay, so, now that we're all here-"

"WAAAAAIT!!!" Pinkie Pie suddenly yelled out, getting everyone's attention, "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Uuuuuuhm, no?" Flash answered, obviously lying.

Sunset remembered for a moment about Dizzy's warning, and looked suspiciously at him.

"...do you happen to know something about Applejack?"

Flash began to look nervous, like if he was hiding something from them.

"N-no, not at all. I-I'm sure she's just busy with other business and that."

Everyone else looked at him unconvinced, noticing how obvious his lie was. Realizing trying to fool them was useless, Flash finally confessed:

"Okay, Okay..." he sighed and continued, "I think she is with Crowned!"

"HMHMHM!" Rarity giggled, "I knew it, AJ won Crowned and left with him."

"Well..." he tried to explain, but all the words were stuck in his throat.

"Flash... AJ and Crowned are dating, right?"

"...honestly I have no idea," Flash responded, sweating nervously.

"W-What are you talking about?" the fashionista was beyond confused... that is until someone appeared at the door.

"Howdy, everybody!" Everyone looked over to the door, and saw a very excited and happy Applejack arriving. "What a great day, don'tcha agree?"

"Applejack!" The rest of them were excited of seeing her.

"Oh boy, really, what a day to start the week... So tell me, did'cha brought the fifth element, Flash?"

"Applejack, uh, care to tell us about-waitwhat'chasayagain?" Sunset had to stop herself when she realized what she had just said.

"Ooooh, the fifth element? I LOVE THAT MOVIE!"

"Pinkie..." the other Rainbooms said in unison, look unamused at her.

"Come on, that a was a good joke!" she complained in response, inflating her cheeks in a child-like way.

Rolling his eyes, Flash took off his bag, and opened it to retrieve the stone from inside it. He then handed it to Pinkie, and as soon as it touched her hands, the element began to shine.

"OOOOOMYGOOOOOSH!" She screamed joyfully as the element took the shape of a necklace with an aquamarine balloon on the front. "WOOOOOW! MINE, MINE, MINE!!!"

Pinkie proceeded to jump all across the classroom, giggling in a silly way as the others were surprised their friend had recovered the element.

"Applejack, did you really find the Element all by yourself?!" Dash asked in surprise.

"Honestly..." AJ reminisced of the Great Apple Tree, and how the whole incident brought her and Tavi closer, "It was actually... a familiar of mine, in a way."

"A familiar, you say? ...was it Big Mac?" Fluttershy wondered curiously.

"J-Just forget about that," Flash said with enthusiasm, "Let's just focus on the fact we have now five of the six elements!"

"And it just so happens that the only missing element... Is the most important of all," Sunset placed his palm over her head, something Flash acknowledged and comprehended why, as he walked towards her and tried to relax his friend.

"Well, if it is so important, let's just go for it now!" Rainbow exclaimed, but was stopped by a certain orange-skinned girl.

"Uhm, A'h say we should discuss this later... maybe on our lunch break?" the other girls exchanged looks, and agreed on that. "A'h believe A'h have something to help us find that last stone."

"I'm with you on that," Sunset added, "we need more time to get ready, so I'll see you all during break-time."

"Okay!" the rest of the Rainbooms said in unison, but right when they were at the door, Rarity stopped them.

"Befooooooore that..." she then walked closer to AJ and pulled her to her side. "We heard of your... incident with Octavia and Crowned, so... how did that turn out?"

Rarity smiled anxiously, as the others looked with curiosity as the farmer's cheek turned a deep shade of red.

"Oh, about... about that, uhm... A'h can only say that... A'h got more than A'h expected," she responded, with a bit of a silly smile.

"B-Beg your pardon?" Rarity was now very confused, and Applejack not really disposed to talk about it.

"WOAH, LOOK AT THE TIME!" She exclaimed, pointing at her watch-less wrist. "A'H HAVE CLASS NOW, SEE YA'LL LATER!"

She tried to run away as fast as she could, and Rarity tried to go after her. The other Rainbooms simply shrugged, wondering what was all that about.

Few minutes before the classes began, Crowned was already on his chair waiting, his mind lost in the thoughts of the crazy weekend that had just passed. He didn't even notice when Dizzy sat next to him.

"Uh, Crowned?" Dizzy tried poking him to react, but he was still daydreaming. "Croooowneeeeeed."

"EEEeeeeheheh..." he only responded with silly noises, smiling like a dunce... and his friend understood.

"CROWNED, ANSWER ME, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"

His friend got startled by his scream and fell to the floor.

"Ouch..."

"Finally you react, dude," the gray boy said, unamused by him. "Care to tell me what happened last Friday that AJ and Octavia had to literally kick me out of your house?"

"Huh, what? ...oh, Dizzy, I didn't see you," Crowned smiled nervously.

"Don't try to change the conversation and tell me: What happened that day."

The boy with the crown gulped audibly, and after he stood up and took his seat again, he tried to explain.

"W-Well, you see... I-It's kind of a long sto-"

Fortunately, he was cut short when AJ rushed through the classroom's door and pushed Dizzy again, sitting next to Crowned.

"Howdy there, suga'hcube," she said casually, ignoring for a moment the guy she had pushed. "Was that pasty botherin' y'ah, buddy?"

Crowned began giggling silly, when another voice interrupted them.

"There you are, Crowny," both him and AJ recognized their friend Octavia, who sat at the other side of the boy, "I was starting to get nervous about you."

Dizzy stood up again, tried to reply against the orange girl, just as he realized what he was looking at.

"APPLEJACK, CAN'T YOU SEE I... was... theeeee..." His brain was trying to process what his eyes were watching. "Weren't you two... like... in complete misery because Crowned dumped you both? ...making me lose fifty bucks, by the way."

"Mmm? A'h have no idea what'cha talkin about, pasty," AJ responded, moving her chair closer to her friends.

"But from now on we're going to seat next to Crowned, so... Hope you can find a seat behind or in front of him if you really want," Octavia added, as she also moved closer to the others.

The three friends shared a small hug together, Crowned smiling and blushing in the middle. Dizzy, however, was quick to realized what was going on.

"...Crowned?" he asked with a bit of uncertainty.

"W-What's the matter, buddy?"

"Please... tell me you didn't..."

"Oh, right, A'h think it's fair for y'ah to be up to date about our dear friend Crowny." AJ and Tavi exchanged playful looks, giggling a little bit.

"You see, Applejack and I reached some kind of agreement and, well..."

"We decided to become his closest friends," they both said in unison... But Dizzy realized there was something else.

"C-Closest friends?"

"Eeyup. Y’ah know, hanging around together, playing games, sleepin’ at each other’s… maybe a bit more than that" AJ confessed, as the three blushed immensely.

"B-but… doesn’t that… technically make you his... g-girlfriends? As in... p-plural?" he couldn't not give credit anything he was being told or that he could see.

"Well, maybe if you put it that way," Tavi said elegantly. "We just want to be around someone we really appreciate and love, just without any of the weight and everything around ‘being girlfriends’ and all that."

"And if ya'h have any problems, A'h have a couple of 'friends' of m'ah own y'ah can talk to." AJ gave him a death stare as she shook her fist in front of Dizzy, making him tremble, before hugging Crowned alongside Tavi.

"Paradiiiiiiiiise..." the blue boy smiled in a silly fashion with his two 'special friends' hugging him tightly. Dizzy, meanwhile, was struggling to process this information.

"Oh... I-I understand" He began saying, trying to not sound freaked out. "I mean it's fair, TOTALLY fair... I-I'm happy for you, and I have no problems with this at all-"

"-YOU DAMN BASTARD!" Dizzy yelled as he shook his friend by the neck, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOU DID?! AND HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO IT?!"

Crowned could barely let out incomprehensible babbling trying to catch a breath, asphyxiated by his friend. Everyone else in the Cafeteria looked at them with weirded out expressions.

"Okay Dizzy, that's enough!" Suddenly arriving to stop the two, Flash separated Dizzy from his friend as he finally caught some air.

"Oh no, it's not enough!" the pale boy protested, pushing to strangle Crowned a bit further, "I CANNOT BE CALM WHEN HE'S ALMOST BECOMING A BRAD 'TWO'!"

Hearing that name, Flash grabbed him by his shirt and stared at his eyes in a cold, angry way that make him gulp his own words.

"...I'll let that pass this time and pretend you didn't just say it," he said, letting him go from his grip.

"Ouch, my neck..." Crowned cried a bit, rubbing his neck, "W-What was that for, dude?"

"...You really have no idea of what you did, right?" Dizzy realized how clueless his buddy was.

"Uhm, get a couple of cute friends?" Crowned responded with a silly smile.

"Noooope, you just call yourselves 'friends', but the truth is that you basically made the strongest girl in the entirety of Canterlot High AND the most elegant girl in school fall for you AT THE SAME TIME!!!"

"...I think they're more like the strongest, cutest, most tickable girls in-"

"Crowned, you really don't see the problem, right?" the pale boy said, face palming in response. "You may say they're just friends, but everyone else can see you're not! You'll have the entire school following you like a bunch of jealous freaks wanting to end you!"

"W-WHAT?!" his friend was now getting terrified, while Flash simply shook his head.

"Dizzy, can you stop saying that?! You're just stressing him!" he commented angrily, to which Dizzy responded.

"Hey, I'm just worried about him! Don't you remember what happened to you?"

Unfortunately, he touched a very sensible nerve on Flash, who responded by punching him in the face, and looking very serious he left the cafeteria, as everyone simply watched and wondered what got into him. Crowned was beyond shocked by this.

"W-WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HIM, DIZZY?!" he exclaimed in disbelief, as Dizzy rubbed his face in pain.

"Ouch... S-Something I thought he got over..." he responded, his face red from both the blow and the shame. "You know? I should be angry, but... I think I deserved that one."

"But I don't understand. What's so bad about calling him 'Brad'?"

"Well, it's... It's very complicated." Not even Dizzy wanted to recall that past.

"Dizzy, how was Flash before?"

The pale student hesitated on telling him what he knew of his friend, so he tried to put it as simple as he could.

"Well, I might not be the right person to tell you... All I can say is that he used to be a heartbreaker dumbass that earned the ire from the whole school... at least until he dated Sunset and changed for the better."

"J-Just that?"

"Dude, I didn't hang around him a lot those days, in fact I'm amazed I even got around him with his infamy... Ouch, he had to have a strong right hook."

Crowned remained thoughtful, worried about his friend and his past, and after adjusting his crown, he ran outside hoping to find his friend. Dizzy meanwhile stood up, still holding his hand over where Flash hit him.

"Please tell him to forgive me for that?" he said before Crowned disappeared behind the door. "...I-I'll be in the infirmary in the meantime."

Crowned searched for his buddy all through the halls, hoping to find him somewhere. Running out of places to look, he decided to search outside the school, and luckily he found him standing near the Entrance Statue. He had a serious look on his face, mixed with a bit of sadness, something that worried the naive student.

"Flash?" Hearing his voice, the blue-haired boy raised his head to face him, still with his saddened expression.

"Oh, it's just you..." he said with not much emotion. "You didn't have to follow me."

"I know, it's just... I was worried about you, and my duty as a King is to ensure my..."

"You really take your 'king' thing very seriously, don't you?" Flash realized how cold he came out, and apologized. "I-I mean, I'm sure you have your reasons, it just surprised me."

"Heheh, I-I know I'm not a REAL king, but I like taking my 'job' seriously, and I want to see you happy!" His optimism really surprised the young 'Casanova'.

"...I suppose you want to know why I got angry at Dizzy, right?"

"Dizzy tried to explain me, but..."

"I know, I know... he's kind of an idiot," Flash said, in a more playful tone.

"Well, he is, but he was really concerned that I didn't fall for your old mistakes. He didn't mean to insult you."

The boy simply sighed, and lowered once again his head as he spoke:

"I understand. It's just... I-It's something very personal, okay?"

Feeling a need to support him, Crowned walked towards his friend, and without hesitation he hugged him tightly, trying to show him how much he cared.

"C-Crowned, what are you..." Flash tried to protest, but his friend only hugged him tighter. "Crowned... you really don't have to worry like this for me."

"Sorry, but I don't like seeing my friends get upset like that."

Letting out another short sigh, the blue-haired boy returned the hug to his friend, feeling a bit calmer.

"Flash... What happened to you in the past?" Crowned asked with curiosity, hoping to make him feel better. "How was the old you?"

"...I don't know what Dizzy might've told you, but... I-I used to be very different back then." Flash took a deep breath, trying to deal with the memories. "When I first came to Canterlot High, I got a bit of a reputation as a 'Casanova': I don't know if it was for my looks or my behavior, but I had plenty of girls falling for me. Soon, I was the most popular guy in the school, and they didn't even know my name, they simply called me 'Brad' and assumed that was my name. But, well... guess that fame got into my head. I wanted to date every girl, loved to be hated, I just... I guess if you knew how I truly was, you would not want to be friends with me anymore."

The naive blue boy looked over at his friend, having heard more from him, couldn't give credit to his words.

"Flash, I..."

"You don't have to say it," Flash interrupted, still beating himself. "I'm nothing but a parasite, a wolf in sheep's clothing..."

"I wasn't thinking any of that," Crowned said firmly, staring directly at his eyes. "What I was going to say is that I doubt I would stop being friends with you, Flash. You learned from your mistakes and changed, and I don't see you as some kind of wolf or parasite. Besides, probably you could look cool with wolf ears."

"CROWNED!" pushing away the crowned boy, he then proceeded to blush as his friend laughed sticking out his tongue.

"Sorry, that's the truth!"

"Y-You dummy..." Feeling more relieved with his support, Flash hugged his friend tightly, blushing a bit from how close they were.

They remained like that for a while, without fear of someone looking at them... or so they thought...

"Crowned, did you have any luck finding-" Walking right while they were hugging, Dizzy reacted just as expected from someone suddenly walking into his friends like that. "OOOH! MYYY! GOOOOOOOD!"

The two boys yelled in unison as they turned around to face their shocked friend, looking the scene with disbelief.

"JUST AS I WAS AFRAID OF, THIS IS PROOF YOU JUST WANT TO STEAL CRO... Wait, no..." Neither Flash nor Crowned could comprehend what the hell was going through their friend's mind, just looking in confusion as he reached all the wrong conclusions. "CROWNED, AREN'T YOU HAPPY WITH AJ AND TAVI?! WHY YOU WANNA STEAL FLASH TOO?!"

"DIZZY!!!" they both yelled at the pale boy, catching the attention of the Rainbooms, who passed by at the worst of times.

"What the hell is going on he-" Dash stopped herself the moment he saw the blue boy and his yellow buddy holding each other.

"O-Oh my," AJ, Tavi and Sunset responded at the same time.

"H-Hey, this isn't what it looks like!" Crowned tried to defend himself. "I-I was just hugging my friend!"

"Honey, if that's who you're truly attracted to, you should've told us before," Octavia joked, making her friend cover his face in embarrassment. "I mean, we're your friends, we'll support you if you choose to be with Flash."

"W-WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY!?" Flash was just stuck frozen in place, not knowing how to defend himself.

"Well, y'ah know what she means," AJ said with a wink, teasing both her friends. "A'h should be angry at this, but honestly A'h rather have him dating y'ah than Dizzy."

"HEY!!!" the pale boy quickly realized he was digging himself deeper than his buddies. "Wait, THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M INTO HIM!"

"Does that mean I should tell Twilight that you're... busy, Flash?" Sunset blushed as she said that, but not as much as the two guys did.

"GIRLS!!!" They yelled in unison.

"Oh come on, we're just kidding!" Pinkie exclaimed, just to smirk once again and tease them. "Although why are you two still holding each other like that?"

Flash and Crowned quickly realized they were still holding arms like before, and separated immediately, looking a tad bit embarrassed by all this.

"Alright lovebirds, I think you should come with us," Sunset commented, making them blush further. "We have to plan how to recover the last element now."

The two boys looked at each other, still feeling a bit of embarrassment, but decided to follow her as she and the Rainbooms walked back into the school. Only Dizzy watched in hesitation, unsure if he wanted to follow them.

"Aren't you coming, Dizzy?" Pinkie asked him, and while he wanted to, he tried to dissimulate lacking enthusiasm.

"Well I... I'm not sure... but just in case, where are you going to be?"

"Oh you know, in the same classroom as always: third door on the left by the largest hall."

“O-okay… I might think about it”

Dizzy saw how Pinkie skipped away towards the classroom, and as soon as he made sure she couldn’t notice, he decided to follow her. He knew the other girls thought he was fed up with helping, so he was going to make sure to surprise them by suddenly joining them, having a bit of a knack for being a bit theatrical in his antics. But right when he was on the hallway where the classroom was, a familiar voice stopped him in his track.

“Dizzy!” Turning around to see who called his name, Dizzy was suddenly tackled by her girlfriend.

“Aaah, Coco! You really startled me this time!” he said with a smile.

“Where were you, my dear, and… oh dear, what happened to you?” She touched his face noticing a bruise in his face.

“Oh, that… I-I said something awful to Flash and he didn’t take it well,” the boy told to her couple.

“Ooow, I told you not to be grumpy around them, I thought we talked about it.” Coco stroked his bruise slightly, hoping it didn’t hurt.

“I know, I know, and it was my fault, but…” the pale student looked around, checking if there was nobody else, and said: “Hey, have you heard some rumors about Crowned?”

“I heard something, I think… is it true he’s dating two girls at the same time?” she asked curiously.

“Well, yes, and no. They aren’t ‘dating’ per se, but he became friends with Octavia and Applejack… really close friends.”

“Wow, that sounds kinda crazy.”

“I know, right?” Dizzy said with a bit of annoyance, “I-I mean, do you imagine if something like that happened with us?”

“Huh? How so?” Coco wondered about what he meant.

“I- mean, if there was a friend that really that wanted to be with me and you had to share with her, would you do it?”

“...I-I don’t think Miss Rarity would have interest in you. Much less in a threesome,” Coco said, misunderstanding what his boyfriend was saying.

“WHAT?! No, that wasn’t what I tried to say!” Dizzy said blushing like crazy.

“Then what were you implying?” she looked at him suspiciously, while he seemed a bit more confused than anything.

“I was just... I didn’t mean… N-Never mind,” he said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“By the way, where were you heading, my dear?”

“Oh, w-well…” Dizzy was aware he couldn’t tell her about the whole Elements ordeal, so he tried to come with an excuse. “Rarity wanted to ask me for a favor, i-it’s something quick, it won’t take long!”

Before Coco could even question that excuse, his boyfriend rushed to meet the other girls, wondering what just happened.

“...what is he up to now?”

Meanwhile with the Rainbooms, they had already reunited again in the usual classroom, discussing their next movement to recover the last of the elements.

“...and thanks to Applejack, we now have five of the six elements with us,” Sunset explained to the other girls, pointing to the collar in Pinkie’s neck. “But of course, she couldn’t have done it without the help of our new ally here, Octa… via…”

Sunset crossed her arms and looked unamused as she noticed how Tavi was more focused on her friend Crowned, who simply enjoyed feeling his head between a couple of soft planets as she hugged him like a plushie. The other girls noticed this and giggled a bit, just as she realized how they were staring at them.

“Oh! Uhm, thank you, girls,” she said, a bit embarrassed of being caught holding his closest friend like that. “It… uh… sure feels nice to lend a hand saving our school.”

“Hehe, if y’ah have a hard time focusing, then A’h shall take our little friend for a while.” Applejack reached for Crowned and pulled him towards her chest, like if he actually was a doll… not that he minded.

“Paradise…” he uttered enjoying the warmth of his apple friend.

Everyone but Sunset laughed at this, blushing a bit from their little antics.

“You’re quite the lucky guy, aren’t you, Crowned?” Flash teased him, just as Sunset was losing a bit her patience.

“Enough, please. Remember, we need to focus if we really want to save Canterlot High from the shadows.” As everyone else finally shut down, Sunset picked up the notebook they retrieved from the “Shady Guy”, reading from the notes scribbled into it. “Now, according to these hints, there is only one place where the last Element should be…”

Just as she spoke, Dizzy sneaked inside the room in silence, hoping to not catch the attention from anyone. Wanting to make a surprise entrance, he was the one surprised when Sunset finished her statement:

“...And that place is no other that the School’s Clock Tower.”

“WAIT! ...did you just say ‘Clock Tower’?” He didn’t care that his surprise was now busted, Sunset had caught all the attention of the pale boy.

“I… Did… Never expected you to be here, Dizzy,” Sunset felt a bit nervous of seeing him.

“Well, I-I just happened to stroll by, that’s all,” the boy said as an excuse. “So, what about the clock tower? What’s in there?”

“Oh, Sunset said the last element was in there,” Fluttershy told him, and everybody expected a different reaction from him rather than an enthusiastic…

“Can I join you, then?”

The room suddenly went silent, as everyone stared awkwardly at him in disbelief.

“...What?”

“Huh, you?! But I remember you wanting us to never involve you on anything like this again!” Flash exclaimed in shock.

“I did?! I-I mean… You've already done a lot for me and… well, this is the last element so… I-I just wanted to help, alright?” Everyone seemed suspectful about this sudden altruism from Dizzy.

“Hmmmh, are you sure this is just out of being a goodfella?” Pinkie inquired, looking directly to his eyes.

“S-SURE SURE! Why else would I help?” the boy smiled widely, albeit a bit nervously.

“I don’t knoooow…” Pinkie said distrustfully, before yelling: “Girls, GATHER AROUND!”

The rest of the Rainbooms stood up and gathered in a circle, discussing about if letting him help.

“Is it just me, or is Dizzy being a liiiiitle bit too generous?” the pink girl said to her companions.

“Pinkie’s right,” Rainbow replied, “how often does that sucker offer to help anyone? Well, asides from…”

“I know what you’re gonna say, don’t you dare bring that up,” Sunset knew she was going to mention his crush for her, and the less they spoke of it, the better.

“Okay, okay, but still it does sound suspicious.”

“A’h agree with Rainbow, there’s something strange about him suddenly feelin’ like lending a hand for us.”

“I don’t know, Applejack, maybe he genuinely wants to help,” Rarity said to his defense. “I saw him the day when he helped me, and he didn’t seem as annoyed as he made it sound.”

“And, no offense, but… didn’t you say we might need as much help as possible?” Fluttershy said looking at Sunset.

“Well, yes, I said it, but…”

“But, we can always get a bit of help from a pal,” Rarity said. “I mean, Coco keeps talking about how he…”

“Not a single word, Rarity.” Sunset stared down at her friend, as she realized her mistake.

“Oopsie.”

Meanwhile, Dizzy waited for their verdict, as Flash and Crowned approached him to talk with their buddy.

“Well, can’t say I’m not surprised that you’re helping us, Dizzy,” Flash said enthusiastically.

“What can I say? I like being unpredictable,” he responded with glee, as he noticed how Crowned was looking at him unamused.

“Crowned, why are you looking at me like that?”

“...I was cozy before you arrived,” his friend responded, comically inflating his cheeks like a toddler.

“...Seriously?” Dizzy wasn’t very pleased to be reminded of his situation. “Do you have to constantly remind us you're dating two girls?”

“W-We aren’t dating, we're just really close friends, and they were the ones who chose that!” Crowned was blushing immensely as he tried to come with excuses, “A-And I seriously love them both, I can’t help but be their mutual friend after all.”

“D-don’t try to fool me, I know you convinced them of double-dating you! Hell, I’m sure you only pretended to not choose any of them just Flash could win that bet!” Dizzy yelled at him as he shook Crowned vigorously, making him almost drop his crown.

“WOAHWOAHWOAH CALM DOWN!!!” The blue boy managed to get out of his grip, as he explained: “I SWEAR, I ACTUALLY TOLD THEM I WASN’T DATING ANY OF THEM! They later showed up at my house and told me they agreed to be just friends with me… really close friends… Uhm… so Flash took your money, huh?”

“DON’T CHANGE THE TOPIC!” Dizzy shook him further, before Flash separated them.

“Okay, enough with that, Dizzy. Why does that even bother you so much? Do you…” In that moment, Flash comprehended what was going on, and his expression was enough to worry his pale pal. “Is it…”

“Flash… Don’t. Say. Anything.” Dizzy was feeling nervous, knowing he got busted.

“Ooooahohoo, I’ll do!” He leaned closer to his friend, and with a smug smile he said: “Are you jealous that Crowned has two nice girls on his side and want the same for you and-”

“SHUT UP, FLASH!!!”

“Am I lying?”

“...no,” Dizzy finally admitted, with much resignation. “If only I was as lucky as him and get Coco and Sunset together… Yeah, I envy him, you happy, Flash?”

“Oh Dizzy…” Flash sighed as he approached to his pal. “Let me tell you something: I already knew you still had something for Sunset, but… Some people are just born lucky, and Crowned is one of them. It’s like winning the lottery, and our dear ‘king’ truly won the big prize.”

“Thanks… I guess?” The boy with a crown said, turning from blue to red from his comment.

“...why did you have to be so lucky, Crowned?” Dizzy wept, dropping to the floor in a mix of shame and a bit of sadness.

After discussing it for a while, the Rainbooms approached the boys as Sunset told them their decision.

“Okay, so we talked about this and we’ve decided that… Why are you weeping on the floor, Dizzy?” She asked confused when he saw her pale friend, who quickly tried to brush it off.

“Uhm… I-I felt down, and got something in my eye,” he lied. Thankfully they believed him, except for AJ, who simply raised an eyebrow at his comment.

“Oh, okay. Now, we talked about it and, even if we have five of the elements already and enough power to recover the element… We would always need a couple of hands to help us, so you, Crowned and Flash shall come with us.”

“Wait, for real?!” Dizzy said in excitement.

“Indeed. I mean, the last element? The shadows might as well have their strongest defenses against us, and they don’t expect non-magic users to assault them as well. We need to be ready for everything, especially since we’re dealing with a powerful kind of entity.”

“Wait, you said ‘entity’?” Flash expressed confusion at her reveal.

“Yes, remember I told you I found something?” Taking an old book from her backpack, Sunset placed it in a desk and opened it on a page depicting shadowy creatures similar to the shadows they had been facing. The rest of the team got around the book and looked at it as Sunset described its content. “I found this old book about ancient legends and mythical creatures, including ancient monsters and dark beings, and there I found about these creatures called ‘The Unbodies’.”

“The Un-what now?” some of the girls asked in unison.

“The Unbodies are magical beings, born from concentrated dark magic that was released. These creatures try to steal whatever magic lies inside other creatures to feed from it by attaching to their shadows, and those who have large quantities of magic imbued to their beings tend to feel weakened after an Unbody feeds from them.”

“Oooh! So that’s why we all felt that limp and flaccid when they attacked us?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Exactly. The only way to defend ourselves from them is either lacking magic, or using magic in its purest form, just like the one stored in the Elements of Harmony. The Unbodies cannot feed from pure magic as it repels them, and non-magical beings can’t be weakened by them either.”

“Well we got both now with us here, so it should be easy, right, Sunset?” Dizzy noticed that she looked more concerned, even perhaps scared. “Sunset?”

“It’s… not as simple as it sounds, Dizzy,” she said coldly, as she turned the page and showed more sketches of the creatures. “The Unbodies are composed only of magic, so if they don’t get a attached to a host, their magic disperses and they disappear. Imagine them as balloons: with time, gas leaks out of them, so the more magic they have in them, the more dangerous they are.”

“So what? We just give them the boot and…”

“I’m not done yet, Rainbow.” Everyone stared at Sunset with more worry. “Because of that, the Unbodies have found a way to keep their magic from dispersing: Feeding on emotions, more precisely on negative emotions. They search for those with darkness in their hearts and feed from them. Usually, they tend to switch hosts constantly, trying to find one with enough dark feelings inside them, to whom they attach until they take the physical appearance of their host.”

Everybody in the room exchanged looks of concern, wondering how bad this had been going. AJ and Octavia both looked over to Flash, who seem to be the most upset from all this, and they remembered the doppelganger they had face days before; Dizzy meanwhile thought about the clone of him that he encountered back a couple weeks ago, and was the first to ask Sunset about it.

“Uhm, Sunset? H-How bad is this?”

“Very bad…” Taking a bunch of photos from her bag, Sunset dropped them all over the desk for them to see. “These were all taken from everyone in school.”

The Rainbooms and pals stared at the pictures carefully, and noticed something frightening on them: In each one of them, the students had shadows that didn’t match them. Some looked more monstrous than others, just like the shadow monsters they had been facing throughout the month.

“That’s how the Unbodies have been surviving all this time,” Sunset explained to them, “they attach to a host, take what they need and then change their hosts. They absorb magic from the portal in our school and keep it inside them by feeding on the emotions of everyone. That’s why they suddenly became vulnerable to our magic, they’ve been spreading throught the school, and feeding on our emotions gave them more power… And that’s why we need to find that last Element before they can gain a more powerful form.”

All of the girls saw the worry on her face, and understood perfectly what she was talking about.

“Well, what are we waiting for? LET’S GO GET THAT ELEMENT NOW!!!” Rainbow yelled in a heroic fashion.

“W-Wait, Rainbow,” Fluttershy held her friend for a moment, “a-aren’t the principals and the maintenance team the only ones who know how to reach inside the clock tower?”

“Heh heh, nice of y’ah to ask,” Applejack said, as she grabbed something from inside Sunset’s backpack, “because Tavi here found this the other day…”

Placing it on the desk, she revealed it to be blueprints of the school’s design.

“So this is the thing you kept talking about?” Dash asked to her partner.

“Eeyup, we found it there, although A’h still can’t understand why.”

“Maybe they just left it there when the shadows… I mean, the Unbodies scared everyone out?” Fluttershy commented, looking at the blueprints.

“I don’t know, this doesn’t look like it was abandoned and more like it was deliberately hidden right there.”

“Sunset, do y’ah think there’s someone behind all this?” AJ asked to her friend, feeling she was suspecting the same thing.

“I don’t just think that, I feel that there is some dark secret buried in this school… perhaps with our luck that secret will surface once we’ve dealt with the Unbodies.”

“Hopefully… But we can leave that for another day,” Octavia said as she cracked her knuckles. “For now, let’s focus on getting ready to assault that tower!”

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement, giving Sunset a bit of confidence and hope.

“Good. Now, we need some time to get ready and figure out the best path to the tower.” Sunset turned towards the boys and leaning towards Flash she said: “Flash, I need you to look over Twilight and protect her. The Unbodies can still target her, and we don’t want to put her in unnecessary risk.”

“Understood.”

“Dizzy, Crowned, if you’re gonna help us, it could be helpful if you train with Flash in the meantime. We shall attack on Friday after school, when there’s nobody who would get endangered.”

“W-Wait, training?!” Dizzy protested immediately, remember how ‘well’ his previews training went. “I-I DON’T NEED MORE TRAINING, I CAN PERFECTLY HANDLED THE SI-”

“It’s been weeks since your last training, buddy,” Flash interrupted him to his annoyance. “You still need to de-rust a bit if you want to last that day.”

“T-THAT’S BECAUSE I WAS BUSY WITH ‘YOU KNOW WHO’!”

“EHEM…” Sunset quickly tried to forget that mention as she focused on the rest of the Rainbooms. “Girls, I need you to practice with your elements, too… or your sable in the case of Tavi.”

“Consider it done, girl!” Tavi boasted, as Crowned fawned over her friend.

“Thanks. I’ll make sure to study the blueprints to find the right path to the towers as well as read more about the Unbodies. If we want to destroy them, we need to be ready for anything.”

In that moment, the school bell rang announcing the classes were about to start.

“Well, I’ll be taking the guys to their classroom,” Flash said, as he began leaving along with Dizzy and Crowned.

“See ya later, my Apple and... Muse,” Crowned said to his friends, as they blushed at his comments.

“Muse?” Octavia was the one who got more flustered. “I like it, sounds cute.”

Following them, the rest of the Rainbooms left to their classrooms, at least until only Applejack and Sunset remained in the room. Sunset looked down to the floor, sighing with worry.

“...Ye’r still thinking about that, right?” Applejack asked her friend, noticing her being upset.

“Like you have no idea…” Sunset turned her head towards the farmer girl, knowing fully she could trust her. “Do you really think this is all happening because of… well, that day?”

Applejack let out a long sigh, and trying to be as honest as possible without hurting her friend, she said:

“Sunset, A’mh not gonna blame y’ah for this whole ‘Unbody’. Yeah, y’ah screwed up with the whole Crown incident, but that doesn’t mean everything bad has to be y’er fault.”

“But what if it is?! What if these shadows are becoming stronger because of me?! I just can’t get this feeling off my back.”

Sunset was about to break into tears, and her friend was trying desperately to be supportive to her. It was then that she remembered something from last week, something that she needed to tell solely to the broken girl by her side and no one else.

“Sunset, A’h just remembered… Last Friday, when Tavi and A’h recovered the Element… we saw someone in the abandoned room.”

“Wait, what? WHAT?” The golden girl’s eyes opened with shock. “W-Who did you see there?!”

“...Flash. Well, actually a shadow version of him.”

With this new info, Sunset was now more concerned about how this could affect their plan.

“Why would the Unbodies took his shape?”

“Well, we all know Flash used to have… quite a bad reputation,” she reminisced, back to her earliest years in high school. “Do you think he still feels guilty about his past? Just like me?”

The farmer girl remained thoughtful about it. It was true, they all believed that Flash had left his past behind, but it was possible that after meeting Twilight a part of his guilt might’ve resourced as a consequence.

“So what do y’ah think we must do?”

“Quite simple: We must keep this a secret from Flash. Unless we want us to rekindle his guilt, it’s better to keep him protecting Twilight while we take down the rest of the Unbodies. And now that both Dizzy and Crowned are helping us, we can count on them and keep Flash as far from this. If this... "Dark" Flash encounters him, it might bring him to despair, and I'm sure that he's waiting for us at the clock tower..."

"...Expecting us to arrive with Flash. A'h wanna see his face when he sees our friends instead." Applejack patted her friend in the back, as she prepared to go back to classes. "Come on, Sunset, we have the rest of the week to prepare."

"You're right... We still got time to think this plan through."

The two girls left the empty classroom and back to their routine, as Sunset reflected on what her friend just told him. If the Unbodies had copied Flash's appearance, who's to say they didn't do the same with her? Worse... what if they copied her "other" self?

Later that day after classes, Flash reunited his friends again at the gym, Dizzy completely opposed to the idea of training again.

"I'm telling you, I'm so ready to climb that clock tower!" he protested, inflating his cheeks in a "really mature" way. "I'm so ready for anything."

"Dizzy, seriously, why are you suddenly feeling so confident about this?" Flash looked at him suspiciously, knowing pretty well that wasn't something he would be saying.

"Oh, well... L-Let's just say that this was made for me... In fact, I was born ready for this day!" The goofy grin on his face and the hesitation on his voice revealed the truth behind it.

"Dizzy... please don't tell me this is all because of-" Dizzy rushed to shut Flash's mouth before he spoke, but that only helped to make Crowned doubt of his word.

"Why are you stopping Flash from talking? ...what are you trying to hide, Dizzy?" Even his close friend was now raising an eyebrow at him.

"N-NOTHING! I-IT'S JUST HE WAS GONNA SAY SOMETHING EMBARRASSING AND.... O-ON SECOND THOUGHTS I MIGHT NEED SOME TRAI-"

Despite his effort to backpedal, Flash slapped him in the head and separated him from his side.

"Stop it, Dizzy! Don't think I don't know you're just doing this because you're being reminded of your 'videogame' fantasy." The sudden blush in the pale boy's face confirmed this to Flash. "I know you too well, buddy. I mean, a Clock Tower full of monsters?"

"Wait, ARE YOU REALLY JUST HELPING BECAUSE YOU'RE REMINDED OF A VIDEOGAME?!" Despite being his friend for a while, the crowned boy had a hard time believing him right now.

"COME ON, FLASH, YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE VIDEOGAMES! YOU KNOW ME BETTER THAN ANYONE THAT THE CLOCK TOWER IS ALWAYS MY FAVORITE PART!"

The other two boys face palmed at the same time, hearing his ridiculous excuse to join them.

"You are a giant dumbass, Dizzy," Flash said, still processing his silly excuse.

"Maybe he is, but... at least he's motivated to help, that's something?" Crowned shrugged, not knowing how to defend that.

"Well, I guess..." Despite his disbelief, Flash had to agree that at least meant they a couple of hands more to aid. "In that case let's not lose more time and get back to training. Now... GIVE ME 500 PUSH-UPS, NOW!!!"

"OOWWW, FLAAAAASH!!!" Crowned and Dizzy yelled in unison, having to follow his harsh training for the rest of the afternoon... And the following four days.

Through the course of the week, the Rainbooms and the Dorks both got prepared for the upcoming Friday, where they would execute their final movement to end the menace of the Unbodies. Flash trained the boys in self-defense and basic training to endure the harsh battle they were going to face, while Sunset and friends studied the blueprints of the school to find the path to the Tower, as well as figuring out all the defenses the "shadows" had set for them. Finally, Friday arrived, and the boys wouldn't be happier as they barely managed to take a breath in the cafeteria during lunch break.

"Oh geez, are you two okay?" Norman said when he passed by and noticed them nearly passing out.

"...Nooope," was their response.

"Man, you don't look... normal. W-What even happened to you?"

"We went through General Flash's Death Camp all week long," Dizzy said, feeling his head... dizzy.

"I can't feel my legs..." Crowned cried quietly, much to Norman's shock.

"B-But why did you do that on the first place?"

Fully aware they had to keep their mission a secret, they tried coming up with excuses.

"UUUUUHM... T-To be in shape like my friends?" the blue student said, reminding Norman of his... 'special' friendship with AJ and Tavi.

"...why did I bother asking?" he groaned, before going on a rant. "YOU KNOW THAT ISN'T NORMAL?! You can't just expect to girls to be your close friends and-"

"Don't waste your time, Norman, I've said the same 300 times this week to him," his pale friend said, still catching his breath.

"Oh, well... you're still a fool anyways, it's not normal you have two 'best friends'," the normal boy said, clearly jealous of his luck.

"...But they're so nice!" Crowned said with his silly grin all over his face, only to be weakly smacked by Dizzy.

"Crowned... shut up."

Suddenly, a pink blur rushed towards them, stopping right behind the boys.

"HEY GUYS, WAKE UP!!!" Pinkie's iconic voice resounded on their poor ears.

"AAAAAAHHH!!!" The two boys jumped from their seats, only to be grabbed by the pink girl.

"QUICK, COME WITH ME!" Without waiting an instant, Pinkie pulled them by their shirts and left with both guys towards their usual meeting place.

"...That wasn't normal at all," was the only thing Norman would say about it.

A few seconds later, Pinkie arrived with the boys and sat them on a couple of chairs.

"GOT' EM!!!" She proudly exclaimed, as she rushed to her place with her friends.

"...H-How did he do that?" Crowned said in disbelief.

"...Don't ask, just accept it," responded Dizzy, already used to her antics.

"Thanks for bringing them, Pinkie," Sunset Shimmer said, as she placed the blueprints on the desk in the classroom. "Now that you're all here, I'll get to the point: After reading these prints, it seems that there is no other entrance to the Clock Tower other than in the abandoned section."

"Wait, just through the abandoned parts?"

"I'm afraid so, Crowned. That means we might be dealing with a lot of Unbodies on our way. Hopefully there are still cracks in the walls, so we might not be totally in the dark."

"But, if the only way in is through a zone that has been barricaded for years, how has the school given maintenance to the clock?!" Crowned couldn't understand it, until Pinkie said it bluntly:

"Uhm, they use a crane? D'uuuh!"

"...why didn't I thought about that?" Now he was feeling silly, gaining a couple giggles from his two friends and Dizzy.

"The point is..." Sunset growled, trying to get back to the topic, "We'll need to do this tomorrow at high noon. There won't be any students here so we'll have nothing to be afraid of, and with the Sun on our side, there won't be many Unbodies on guard."

"Wait... Y-YOU SAID TOMORROW?! NOT TODAY?!"

"You got a problem with that, Dizzy?" Rainbow asked to the pale student, with a bit of threat in her voice.

"W-Well... You see... Tomorrow I was planning to- Uhm..." Dizzy felt a bit indecisive, thinking about his plans of asking Coco on another date... And maybe something else. "I-I mean, even if Sunset wants, I could..."

"HE WOULD GLADLY COME TOMORROW HELP YOU!" Crowned covered his buddy's mouth before he spoke too much, and to his ear he whispered: "Dude, I know you want Coco and Sunset to get along to see if you... get as lucky as me, but this is a very serious moment. You have time to think about it later, but now the school needs us."

Knowing his friend was right, Dizzy sighed in resignation and said:

"Y-Yeah... I-I was gonna say I'll be tomorrow here. I-I can postpone my date to next week."

"Thank you guys, you don't know how much you're helping us out."

"Hey, that's what we are fo-" In that moment, Crowned realized someone was missing in the room. "Wait, where is Flash? I thought he was gonna-"

"Flash is busy right now with Twilight. He... He cannot come with us," the boys looked at Sunset with uneasiness, wondering why she had decided to exclude him.

"A-Any reason for that, Sunset?"

"J-Just that we need to protect Twilight, Dizzy. That's all there is." Even if she sounded so sure of herself, the pale boy felt there was something off about it.

"I-I see..."

"Forget about Flash right now, Dizzy. He has his mission, and we have ours, ok?" Dash said, sounding more than excited for the following day. "Hope you're ready, girls! Tomorrow we're making our final assault!"

Everyone in the room began cheering, getting ready for the upcoming battle... ignoring that, just outside the classroom, Flash was hearing it all, aware of why they had assigned him to watch over Twilight.

"...I understand what you're trying to do, Sunset," Flash told himself as he walked away from the classroom. "But I just cannot let you deal with my own faults by yourselves..."

The following Saturday at midday, the Rainbooms arrived at the school, followed by the two Dorks and their new musician friend.

"Alright, we're here, girls. Now, how do we get in?" Crowned said as he arrived alongside his friend.

"You just wait right here; I know a secret entrance." Saying that, Sunset left the group waiting as she ran around the school, looking for her secret passage.

While they waited, the team took the time to take another look at the "map" Sunset had designed from the info in the blueprints, preparing for their assault.

"Hoo-weeh!" Applejack exclaimed, looking at the detailed map of the tower." One usually doesn' pay attention to these details, but… Whoa, the Clock Tower is quite high when you look at it."

"Now that you mention, yeah. It's definitely not gonna be easy..." Octavia said, noticing what her friend pointed out. Feeling that was a right moment to talk, the musician looked at the girls and commented: "Uhm, girls? Can... Can I tell you something?”

"Sure, darling, tell us," Rarity responded.

"Well, it's just... I can't help but thank you for accepting me so... quickly. I-I thought you could easily reject me and..."

"Tavi, not only are y'ah one of the best swordswoman A'hve ever seen, y'er also really smart and mature..." Tavi couldn't help but smile at her friend's words. "Besides, y'er both mine and Crowned's best friend, and A'h believe that's enough reason for us to trust that y'ah will keep this a secret."

"Thanks, Jackie," the musician responded with a smile.

Shortly after that, Sunset opened the school doors from inside the building, and after certifying nobody else was passing by, she made a signal to call the team inside. Quickly, everyone ran inside, as Sunset closed the doors again, just in case anyone happened to arrive.

After wandering through the empty school for a while, the team arrived at the tower's door without much trouble, when they noticed multiple chains keeping it locked.

"Uhm, anyone has an idea?" Fluttershy said worried, not expecting that kind of lock.

"Allow me." Octavia took a look at the chains, and making a sign for the girls to give her space, she grabbed her sable and with a quick slash cut through the steel, breaking the chains.

"WOAH!" Rainbow exclaimed in amazement, while the others' jaw dropped in surprise... All except AJ, who simply giggled at her show of skill.

"I know, I'm good at this."

"Well, what are we waiting for!" Pinkie said excited, as she opened the door.

Losing no time, everyone went inside the tower, but not before Crowned noticed something about the broken chains on the floor.

"Wait a second," he called the attention of the rest of the girls, holding a segment of the broken chain in his hands. "Girls, I need you to look at this."

The Rainbooms all surrounded the boy, looking at what he was holding.

"Don't you notice something weird on these chains?"

"Well, let me see..." Rarity looked at the chains, and realized what Crowned meant. "You're right: they look awfully clean."

"Yeah, almost like they're new..."

The girls exchanged looks of concern, not knowing how to feel about this.

"Uhm, maybe the principals have been using this path and we didn't know?" Fluttershy commented, to which Pinkie replied.

"I don't know; don't they always use a crane to fix the tower?"

"Not only that," the fashionista grabbed the chains, as she distinguished her reflection on the metal, "this chains are shining new!"

The girls were now really shocked, not knowing what to think. The other people who knew about the abandoned section and the entrance to the tower were the Principals, and they didn't want to suspect from the beloved heads of Canterlot High.

"Do you think they're hiding something here?" Crowned asked, looking troubled by the discovery.

"I don't know, Crowned, but we'll have to worry about it later, after being done with this." Tavi tried to calm his friend... that is, until she noticed something. "By the way, have any of you seen Dizzy?"

Her answer came in the form of a gleeful squee, calling the attention of everyone as they saw the pale student looking above him, with the happiest grin he has ever had since he got a girlfriend:
Above them, large gears moved along rusty chains, with the sunlight filtering from between cracks of a wooden upper floor. For Dizzy, this was like a dream come true.

"Whoa, I never imagined it would look like this!" Sunset said in surprise. "Is this what amazed you, Dizzy? ...Dizzy?"

Dizzy appeared to be petrified... with the stupidest smile printed over his face.

"This... This is my place. I'm in my natural element." Out of nowhere, Dizzy pulled out a leather whip with a metal tip.

"What in the... SERIOUSLY, DIZZY?!" Crowned couldn't believe what he was watching.

"Is... Is that a whip?" Sunset said, not understanding what was going on in his head.

But before they could say anything, the madman used the whip to grapple on one of the chains, holding it firmly as he began raising up the tower, much to the bewildment of everyone else.

"COME ON, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!" He yelled in excitement, as he somehow swung himself into one of the moving gears, using it as a platform. Everyone below wouldn't believe what they were seeing.

"O-kay... And I thought Pinkie was a little off," Dash said in complete stupefaction.

"HEEEY!!!"

"Do we have to worry or..."

"Dizzy REALLY loves videogames with clock tower levels." Crowned explained unamused.

"Ooooooh!" Everyone said... right before face palming, realizing how stupid he was acting.

"I'll make sure he doesn't end up killing himself," Rainbow said as she used her Element to sprout pony ears, tail and wings, opening flight near Dizzy.

"There should be a stairway nearby for us," Sunset commented, pointing at the wooden ladder leading up the tower. "We gotta hurry, I have a bad feeling about this, even with the sun still up."

The rest of the team quickly climbed up the tower through the wooden platforms built for maintenance. Dizzy meanwhile did all sorts of crazy jumps and stunts, sometimes with Rainbow having to catch him before he felt face first into a moving gear, yet nothing could vanish the utter glee he was experiencing.

"...Seriously, what got into him?" Rarity asked, concerned about his sanity.

"I've never seen him so... cheerful and excited," Pinkie said, even shaking a little. "It almost feels wrong."

"Well, he's really into videogames, and everyone has their favorite franchises and all that," Crowned explained them, before looking at Dizzy with complete unamusement. "Although you'll never see me going down pipes or eating mushrooms like him."

"And thank goodness for that" Everyone let a small giggle at Applejack's comment, as they continued going upwards.

But as they kept climbing to the upper floor, Sunset couldn’t help but feel something was wrong, even if it seemed like nothing was out of place.

"Girls, don't you think this is very calm?"

"Now that you mention it... Yes." Fluttershy realized the same thing her friend was thinking. "Didn't you say the Unbodies would have their strongest forces waiting for us?"

"Yes, I did... This is very strange."

"Maybe we truly took them by surprise," Octavia said, as the rest of the team agreed on that.

"Perhaps you're right... Anyways, remember, we gotta focus and not distract ourselves like..." A large "Woo!" was heard from above them, followed by the loud groan of a certain rainbow-haired girl. "...like our pasty-faced friend."

They all shared a collective groan, as they finished climbing the tower. Once on the top floor, Dizzy was already waiting alongside a very tired Rainbow Dash.

"Waaaay ahead of you!" Dizzy boasted, holding his whip like if he was some sort of vampire hunter.

"Yeah... But only because I kept you alive, moron!" The blue girl complained, as her friends walked towards her.

"So the last Element should be here, right Sunset?"

"Yes, it should..." Sunset looked around the room, noticing only boxes on the sides, gathering dust and spider webs. "It must be on one of those boxes, there's nowhere else to hide them."

"But that's why we came here early, we have all the time in the world," Dizzy said cockily. "I mean, the Unbodies can't appear unless there is no light, and we have clear skies for-"

Like if tempting fate, the sky began to darken, as mysterious clouds began covering the Sun, slowly leaving the tower in complete darkness.

"Wait, d-didn't they predict open skies today?" Crowned asked nervous, as he exchanged looks with the rest of his companions.

Realizing what this meant, they all exchanged looks of concern before rushing to the boxes, quickly checking inside them hoping to find the stone before the shadows arrived.

"Quick! We have not much time," Sunset hurried everyone, as the each opened a box and searched for the stone. "This is the only place they would've hidden it."

"But how do you expect us to find them fast among all these-" Luckily for them, Dizzy managed to find the stone right on the box he opened. "Oh. Like this."

Everyone turned towards him and rushed to his side as he picked up the stone... But he should've seen that it was an obvious trap.

"You've really pushed me all my limits... Congrats." An ominous voice echoed through the room, as a shadowy hand grabbed Dizzy from inside the box by the wrist, right before another hand rose and took the Element of his hand. Terrified, the boy screamed and barely managed to shake off the shadow, as a dark mist began covering the room, and giving the impression it somehow grew wider than before. While Dizzy slowly retreated, the darkness inside the box began taking a physical form, one resembling that of a certain friend.

"I-Is that... Is that Flash?!" Fluttershy said scared, hiding behind of Sunset.

"Of course not, it's just one of those Unbodies," she said defiantly, looking at the shadowy being in front of her with no fear.

"Well, well! If it isn't the lovely bad girl everyone loves to hate," Dark Flash said mockingly, much to the irritation of Sunset.

"Shut your mouth! Girls, you know what to do."

Losing no time, the girls grabbed their necklaces and blasted their magic against the shadow... Who simply let out a yawn.

"Predictable." Before any of the beams would hit him, a barrier of darkness rose with a single movement of his hand, blocking the power of the Elements. Everyone gasped and backed up a few steps away.

"How did he do that?!" Rainbow reacted in shock

"Do you think I was gonna be like one of my inferior minions?" Giving them no time to react, the Unbody summoned several hands from beneath the team and held them in place, as they struggled to get free from their grasp.

"HOW'S HE TOO STRONG?! IT WAS MIDDAY AND THE SKY WAS CLEAR!" As an unwanted answer, Dark Flash warped in front of Dizzy, making him back as much as he would with the shadow grabbing him.

"Well, to put it simply... That was all me."

"Uh... Oh..." Pinkie muttered, realizing what was going on.

"W-What do you mean with that?" Crowned asked, looking terrified from their dilemma.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Dark flash giggled mockingly, as a cocky grin appeared on his face. "Well, if you insist... You've been meddling far too long with my plans, what with sneaking inside a closed school just to get your precious element, so I was forced to use my powers to... let's say, even the odds. Any more questions, smartasses?"

"What do you want with the Elements?" Sunset roared in anger.

"Isn't it obvious, sweet-heart? Wasn't my little show of darkness enough clue for you?" the Unbody gleefully said, letting out an evil cackle. "Sure, it was nice feeding from your weak human energy, but it was the Original Element of Magic that brought us here, so of course when the Elements of Harmony of this world appeared, we wouldn't let the chance pass by, don't you agree?"

"And what are you even planning? To enslave an entire school full of teenage students to do your biding? Even I realize now how stupid that is!"

"Hmhmhmhmh... You clearly have no idea, do you?" Sunset began to feel unnerved, shocked by the absolute confidence in Dark Flash. "Did you really think the school is our end goal? That after taking control of this place we would move to Equestria and risk encountering the Princesses? No... We have something more in mind. Something bigger and better! And the only thing we need to succeed... is keeping you away from this element for just a little longer."

Sunset stared at the dark creature, feeling nervous and even a bit afraid, but she had confidence in her friends, in that they were going to get out of that anyway possible, and she defied the creature with a determined voice.

"Listen to me: I don't care about your plans, because we both know this will end with you loosing. We'll take that element, and we'll destroy you and your forces for impersonating our friends. Maybe you can defend from our magic, but you can't take it away from us, and one Unbody is something five Elements can take out."

A sinister grin appeared on Dark Flash's face, as he began laughing manically, until he erupted into an insane fit of laughter.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK I'M A SIMPLE SHADOW?! No... I'm fear itself, darkness incarnated, THE FORCE THAT WILL CRUSH YOU UNDER ITS FEET! AND NOW, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU DROWN IN ETERNAL DAR-"

To everyone's astonishment, Dark Flash was suddenly hit with a staff, his physical form proving a weakness. Slamming into a wall, he lost control of the shadows holding the Rainbooms, releasing them.

"AARGH! WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT?!"

"Maybe if you didn't brag about yourself, you would see that!" a familiar voice said from among the dark room.

The team then turned their heads to their right, and they wouldn't believe what they were seeing.

"FLASH?!" To everyone's shock, Flash was standing now where his copy used to be, holding a staff and looking ready to fight.

"Well, if it isn't the "guard" himself..." 'Dark' Flash said, 'cleaning' himself up and facing the real deal. "Nice job taking me by surprise."

"Don't think I'll ever let you touch them, freak," Flash boasted, aiming his weapon at his copy.

"Hmmm... What makes you think this won't go like last time, Flash?" hearing this, the Rainbooms turned to look at their friend, unsure of what that meant.

"Flash, what does he mean by 'last time'?" Sunset asked in confusion, not knowing what was going on.

Flash turned over to see them, and in a calm voice he said:

"I'll explain everything to you later, but we have to deal with this guy first."

Dark Flash simply smirked, letting out a loud cackle at them.

"HAHAHAHAHAH! IS THE PRETTY BOY PLAYING TO BE THE HERO AGAINST ME?! LET'S FACE IT, FLASH: YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A WASTE OF AIR, THAT'S WHAT YOU'LL ALWAYS BE!"

As the monster erupted into laughter, Flash showed genuine anger on his face, as he removed his jacket to reveal an armor underneath it, and then he attached a blade on the tip of his staff, turning it into a spear which then aimed to the neck of his shadow copy.

"I don't care what you think of me, but let me warn you: This time, you'll be the one going down, because I won't rest until you're gone. IN NAME OF MY FRIENDS, AND IN THE NAME OF PRINCESS TWILIGHT, I SHALL DESTROY YOU HERE AND NOW!"

"...so badass," Crowned whispered, earning an awkward stare from his friend Dizzy, who didn't know if feeling jealous or walking away.

Dark Flash looked astonished at the bravery of the boy, feeling annoyed by his determination.

"The nerve..." he said grinding his teeth, and then turned to face the Rainbooms. "You'll have to apologize me, girls, but this moron really wants to go first."

Trying to take him by surprise, the Unbody blasted a sphere of darkness at Flash, making him dodge and giving the creature a window to attack. But as soon he tried to ambush him, Flash swung his weapon against him, barely managing to block it. The Rainbooms tried to blast the monster at this chance, but once again he barely managed to stop them with a barrier.

"You're pretty impatient, aren't you?" Dark Flash giggled as he pulled out the last stone. "In that case, you can have some fun with my... girlfriend."

To their surprise, Dark Flash threw the stone right in front of the girls, before focusing back to Flash, as the two engaged in combat. Knowing there was a trap, Sunset ignored the stone and tried to run towards her friend... but was blocked by an invisible barrier, keeping her away from their battle.

"FLASH, WAIT!" she yelled, trying to stop her friend... but unfortunately for her, there was something worse about to happen.

"Uhm, Sunset?" Fluttershy said, pointing at the stone, suddenly floating in the air. "A-Are the elements supposed to do that?"

The yellow girl turned around, as everyone witnessed how the Element was surrounded by a dark silhouette, as it materialized into the worst possible thing for them.

"W-What..." it took a moment for her to notice, and when she did Sunset regretted it. "Oh no... No no no no NO NO!!!"

"Oh no, not again..." Applejack said, recognizing the large figure materializing in front of them.

Twice as tall as any of them, with a crimson skin, pitch-black eyes, red flames for hair, the raging she-demon from the past was standing right in front of them.

"AHAHAHAHAH!!! DID YOU MISS ME, SUNSET!?" the demon said in a mocking voice, looking at the terrified girl, as she was staring at the incarnation of her mistakes.

Sunset tried to gather strength to face her fears, but her legs were frozen in place, and her whole body trembled at the sight of the monster... that is, until a certain white boy stood next to her, wielding his whip as brave as he would act.

"Don't feel afraid, Sunset," he said, trying to sound heroic... and she would've yelled "That's what I'm trying" if her friends hadn't spoken first.

"Yeah, we'll take of her!" Rainbow claimed proudly, as the Rainbooms all stood near their friend, all with their Elements in hand.

"OH, WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!" The demon said, as she sparked a glowing ball of magic, throwing it at them.

The gang quickly moved away from the attack and blasted their elements at Demon Sunset, but the creature dodged their attack with ease, laughing at their attempt to destroy her.

"IS THAT ALL THAT YOU CAN DO?!" she yelled, as she dived towards Sunset, trying to grab her. Rainbow managed to push her friend out of her reach, but just barely.

"Phew, that sure was a close call!" she said as they both stood up.

"T-This is bad... We got to stop her, quick!" Shimmer yelled in panic, as the monster threatened to attack them. Rainbow grabbed her friend and flew out of the way from a magic blast, placing her far away from her reach. Sunset saw as her friend charged against the creature and tried to follow her, but was stopped when someone grabbed her by the arm.

"Sunset, wait!" Applejack shouted, pulling her friend away from the battle. "Y'ah can't simply approach her like that, it's too dangerous for y'ah!"

"But Applejack, she's..."

"A'h know, dear, but we have our magic to fight her, and you... Well..."

Sunset tried to reply to her, yet even she had to agree that being magic less she would not help much.

"Sorry, A'h really am, but it'll better if y'ah hide for now..." Applejack said with hesitation, before joining back with her friends battling the demon. Sunset looked at the Rainbooms, fighting the shadow of her own mistakes... and all she would do was hide. A single tear dropped from her face as she looked for a hideout, with a sensation of guilt eating her inside.

Meanwhile, helping the girls, Octavia and Crowned were busy trying to deal with the she-demon... or at least Tavi was, Crowned giving moral support.

"COME CLOSER, YOU COWARD, SO I CAN SLASH YOU!" she taunted the Demon Sunset, who angrily fired her magic at her, dodging the attack while pushing his friend away. "Are you okay, Crowny?"

"Uh, yeah yeah!" He said, his whole head shaking, crown still in place.

"This is getting too dangerous, dear," she said, helping her friend to stand up "I think you should find where to hide, I can deal with this creature!"

While he wanted to stay and protect her, Crowned knew pretty well she didn't need any of that.

"As you wish, my muse." Giving her a small kiss, Crowned ran to take shelter while the monster was distracted, as he saw Rainbow Dash managing to connect a kick to her gut, even if it did little to anything.

Finding a group of boxes nearby, Crowned jumped behind them, hoping the monster would find him there... Only to find a terrified white splatter trembling like crazy hidden already.

"Dizzy?! What are you doing here?!" He yelled at his friend.

"W-WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING!?" Dizzy responded, fear noticeable in his voice.

"BUT YOU HAVE A WHIP! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD FIGHT FOR SUNSET!"

"AGAINST A DEMON?! MAYBE IF I WOULD TRANSFORM INTO A DEMON OR A VAMPIRE, THEN I..." the boy stopped talking when he noticed someone nearby. "Wait, is that Sunset?"

Turning his head around, Crowned also realized that Sunset was hiding just a couple of boxes away, looking at her friends fighting the Unbody impersonificating her. But right before he would wonder why she was hiding, Dizzy had already run towards the girl.
As he approached, he noticed the concern in her face, watching her friends fighting her demon alter-ego.

"Sunset? Is everything ok?" The boy asked, surprising the already shaken girl.

"GAH! DIZZY?! How did you... N-never mind, just leave me alone." Sunset tried to avoid looking at him, sounding in despair.

"Dizzy, what's going on?!" Crowned quickly approached to his friend, crouching to avoid another missed blast.

"Aren't you seeing?! That thing, monster, she-demon, whatever, she's... I-it's her, okay!?" Dizzy probably should’ve used different words to explain his friend, as Sunset began to feel even worse from that. "Sorry... Listen, I..."

"S-Shut up, Dizzy," she responded, clearly not feeling well. "This is all a nightmare... if only I could do anything..."

"Sunset..." the pale boy tried to comfort her, but once again she turned his aid down.

"Stop! I don't need comfort, I... I NEED TO DO SOMETHING... BUT I CAN'T! I can't..." Sunset was on the verge of tears, feeling completely useless. Dizzy then placed a hand over her shoulder, and continued:

"I-I know it must be hard to face your old past, how you were-" The girl was about to push him away, but then he proceeded, "-but, that doesn't mean you can't change. I mean, look at me."

Sunset turned her head towards him, feeling like he actually was saying something meaningful.

"Yeah, remember how I used to be? Before this moron changed my life?"

"HEY!" Crowned replied as his friend pointed at him, causing Sunset to giggle.

"Yes, yes, I remember," she replied, feeling a bit cheered up, "You haven't change that much."

"Y-Yet I am still here! I got myself into dangers I never expected to face... all because of a friend. You understand now?"

Sunset thought about his words for a second, starting to feel he had a point. She turned over for a moment, seeing how her friends barely managed to keep away from the monster, doubt filling her again.

"You might be right, but... How can I fight that thing without magic?"

"Come on, Sunset, if there's someone who can think how, it's you," Dizzy said in a flattering voice... the right words she needed to hear.

"Think... Think! That's it!" She stood up, feeling much more upbeat. "They need someone who guides them, someone who knows how to deal with them. Oh, thank you, friends!"

Both Crowned and Dizzy blushed as the girl hugged them in gratitude, the blue boy thankful neither AJ nor Tavi were watching him.

"Now listen, I think I know how to deal with her, but I'll need your help once again, guys, ok?"

"You can count on us, Sunset!" Crowned said cheerfully, as he and Dizzy ran back with the group, but then she stopped the pale boy for a moment, suddenly grabbing his arm. "Hey, Dizzy?"

"Uh, y-yes, Sunset?" his cheeks began to fluster, hearing her voice.

"There's something I need to ask you..." Sunset walked towards him, standing right next to the boy. "Do you think, if I was in a relationship like Crowned with AJ and Tavi... Would it work?"

Dizzy's heart began to pound really fast, his whole face turning red.

"I... I think it would..." Slowly, he leaned towards her friend, every moment closer to her.

"Thanks Dizzy... I hope Twilight and Flash see it the same way."

THUMP!

The noise echoed through the entire room, catching the attention of everyone.

"What the hell was that?" Sunset Demon wondered, before resuming her fight with the

As the battle continued, Sunset ran back with Applejack, who expressed shock to exposing herself to danger.

"Sunset, what in the hay are y'ah doin'?!" she yelled, as she dodged another blast from the demon. "A'h told y'ah to..."

"I know, but I can't leave you alone, especially with this problem!"

Pointing at the monster, AJ saw as the Sunset Demon repelled Dash's kick, just as a blast from Pinkie hit her in the chest. She let out a shriek of pain, and for a moment the Element Stone was visible from the hole left in impact... which immediately healed, as the demon laughed maniacally, launching her own blast to the pink girl, barely protected by Rarity creating a shield.

"...Alright, didn't see that one coming," Crowned said as he returned, dragging a white splatter with him.

"Crowned, Sunset, Y'ah really need to get somewhere safe? Or do y'ah have any ideas?"

Sunset thought about their situation: They needed to take away the stone to deal damage to the demon, but first they needed to deal damage to her...

"Now that you mention it..." she said confidently. "Wait for me, girls."

To everyone's surprise, Sunset suddenly ran right in front of her counterpart, sweating nervously but looking determined to help.

"SUNSET, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Rarity shouted to the flame-haired girl.

"Giving you some time to make a plan!"

The fashionista looked a bit confused at her answer, but then turned her head to see Applejack calling her and the others, as Sunset approached the giant She-demon.

"HEY, YOU OVERSIZED FREAK!" The angry she-demon was surprised to see Sunset, and smiled wickedly.

"Well, look who decided to finally show!" She said in a confident voice. "Finally decided to let me take care of you?"

"You wish... No, I'm here to face you, demon!"

The giant demon simply let out a sinister cackle, while preparing another magical blast.

"YOU?! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE MAGIC! Now, be a nice girl and LET ME FINISH YOU!"

When the shadow creature attacked, Sunset simply limited herself to dodge, hoping that she would keep all her attention to her. As she was distracting the monster, the rest of the girls had reunited away from her.

"Well, that should keep her distracted... Now does anyone have a plan?!" Rainbow asked anxiously, worried about her friend.

"Actually... I think I have one," Crowned responded, much to the surprise of everyone.

"You do? WELL TELL US NOW! Sunset can't keep her busy for long!" Rarity said, looking very concerned.

"Okay... Applejack?" The farmer girl turned her head towards Crowned with curiosity. "...I need you to throw Dizzy."

"Wait... d-did you say... THROW ME?!" Dizzy had just regained conscience and was now regretting his existence.

"...I'm liking this plan already," Applejack smirked. The rest looked a bit confused as to why. Crowned proceeded to explain:

"Listen, you need to attack her while she's distracted. In the air, Dizzy can use his whip to retrieve the Element from inside her when exposed, and that's when you can deliver the final blow."

"Yeah yeah, good plan and all, but... WHO'S GONNA CATCH ME?!"

"Hah! Don't worry, Dizzy! You have me for that!" Rainbow boasted.

"Uuuuhhhm..."

Suddenly, a loud yell called their attention: Sunset had barely dodged her alter-ego's attack, but was blown away by the blast and felt to the ground, getting cornered by the monster.

"GUESS NO TIME TO LOSE! APPLEJACK, NOW!!!"

"WAIT WAIT, I'M NOT READYYYYY!" Dizzy barely had time to scream before AJ flung him into the air, directly towards the Sunset Demon.

"Huh?!" Getting distracted, the demon just looked as the boy was flying towards her. "What in the world is... AARGH!!!"

Taking advantage from the distraction, the girls blasted their elements at the creature, exposing the Element once again.

"WHY, YOU LITTLE... WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS ALREA- AAAGHNOWWHAT?!" the Sunset Demon felt as something suddenly hit her, flinging the Element from inside her. "Oh no..."

"Heheh, not bad for a rookie vampire killer, don't you think?" Dizzy now boasted, being carried by Rainbow Dash.

"This isn't over..." the monster growled, as she landed trying to pick up the Element again. "This is but a mere..."

She wouldn't finish her sentence as she was blasted once again, this time without the stone to absorb magic from. Feeling her body breaking apart, the demon saw as Sunset picked up the stone, now being the one with the last laugh.

"Sorry for you, sad creature, but I will never be you again. Octavia?"

The musician walked near her friend, unsheathing her sable with glee.

"Now you'll feel what happens to those who dare impersonate my friends." With a confident smile, Octavia raised her weapon as it was bathed with the magic from the other girls, and with quick moves she sliced whatever was left from the demon, only a terrified expression remaining on her face.

As she sheathed her sword, the Sunset Demon shrieked in pain as light began to emanate from the slices, exploding in a cloud of white sparks.

"That was the last of her... We did it, girls..." Sunset smiled as she looked at the recovered stone. "Finally, the last stone..."

In that moment, a loud thud called the attention of the group, and when they turned around they found themselves in front of Dark Flash... laying below the real Flash's feet, the barrier having disappeared with her defeat.

"NO, MY GIRLFRIEND! WHAT DID YOU DO HER?!" the Unbody yelled in anger.

"It's over, buddy," Flash responded by stomping him again. "Your days of stealing magic are over."

"No... Not yet... I CAN STILL KILL YOU!"

Taking him by surprise, Dark Flash summoned his sword and tried to slash his counterpart, but seeing his attack coming Flash dodged with ease, and kicked his rival's weapon off his hands and with a swift move stabbed him with his spear, holding him in the floor.

"Sorry, but this ends here."

"UUGH, NO... YOU CAN'T... I..." He wouldn't even finish his threat when he noticed the Elements shining, ready to be blasted.

"Like he said, this end here," Sunset said, smiling smugly. "We won."

"T-that's what you think..." Dark Flash giggled weakly, still looking menacingly at them. "As long as there's darkness in this place... I'll come back... As long as there is an infinite source of corruption and betrayal... I'll come back... AS LONG AS THAT ELEMENT REMAINS IN THAT STONE... I'll come back... and I will..."

Having none of that, Sunset simply did a gesture, and with no further instruction the Rainbooms blasted the Elements at the Unbody, who simply laughed as the Elements banished the creature, once and for all.

“Well... this is finally over,” Flash breathed in relief.

“And in what a way!” Pinkie added, jumping in excitement.

“Alright, now can we get out of here?” Rarity pointed to the staiway, ready to leave, “this whole place is a mess and... even more now.”

Feeling like the threat to the school was over, the Rainbooms began to leave the tower, having plans on something for later that day. As they walked to the exit, Dizzy and Crowned thought about what the monster had just said.

“...Dizzy?

“Uh, yeah Crowned?”

“...Do you think what that Dark Flash said will become truth?” The pale boy raised his eyebrow at his friend’s suggestion. “I mean, we don’t know what was his plan, and there’s still a secret in the school. You saw the chains and the blueprints: Those were recent, and-”

“LET THAT GO, just... don’t think about it, ok?” Dizzy commented in annoyance, “We’ll solve that on another day. Come on, let’s head home.”

“Uhm, but Pinkie just told us to go to her house.”

“Her house? For what?”

“Come on in, dear,” Flash said as he opened for Twilight the door to Pinkie’s house.

“Thanks Flashy. Uhm, hello?” Twilight walked inside, not noticing anyone. “Helloooo?”

“Over he-” Flash tried to point to the living room, but coughed a bit, getting interrupted.

“Flashy? Do you feel fine?”

“Y-Yes, it’s just-” the boy coughed once again, “-just a small flu. Let’s just come in...”

They both came into the room, and as soon as they turned on the lights...

“SURPRISE!!!” Coming out from hiding, her friends approached the surprised girl.

“AAH, G-GIRLS! WHAT A NICE SURPRISE!” She could barely react. but then popped the question: “But what are we celebrating?”

“DUH! WE’RE CELEBRATING YOU GOT PERFECT GRADES, SILLY!” Pinkie said, throwing confetti all over the place.

“Oh, that... it was nothing, I mean it was actually pretty ea-”

“Twily?” Sunset walked towards her friend with a box in her hands, looking very happy for her. “Here, it’s a special present from all of us. I know you’ll wonder ‘where do we got it’ and all that, but... Just open it and touch it, and then... well, we’ll explain you everything.”

“Huh? W-What are you talking about?” Curious about her message, Twilight looked at the box for a moment, and decided to open it right there... and inside, she found a particular round stone. “Uhm, it’s an... interesting gift. But why a rock?”

“Well, we didn’t want to tell you until we found it, and now you’ll understand why we were so busy and-”

But all the excitement in the room seemed to banish when Twilight grabbed the stone... without it reacting.

“Excuse me, no offense, but... how does this stone explain that?”

Everyone in the room gasped in disbelief. For some reason, and to their surprise... the element had no reaction on Twilight.

END OF CHAPTER.

Author's Note

NOW OBLIGATORY "TO BE CONTINUED" MUSIC

Well, I certainly took my time with this chapter. I kinda blame work and other things that kept me busy. But at least now I'll get to continue this story.
Welp, this episode has been dragging for a long while, mostly because of a little mistake I did while editing it... And kinda got carried away. But after discussing with my co-author, he pointed me out where I was going wrong, and got back on track, so... yeah, this episode was very heavily edited recently, but hopefully I'll continue the story without much issue.
So, thanks again for reading and see you next time!

Prologue: The Meeting of Two Dorks

Author's Note

Well, this is a story that my friend KingMario128 and I had for a long time, but that we've decided to finally share to the world and probably "cringe" together. Ok, just kidding... or maybe not. Depends on you.
Now, seriously, this story is about two "OCs" getting in situations that even they can't comprehend. We hope is of your liking, and I know that with the sole mention of OC you're probably thinking about screaming "Gary Stu", but be asured that they are anything but Gary Stus.
Another thing: This story takes place in an Alternate Universe after the first Equestria Girls movie, I say that because there are some changes from the original source, not because we think those were bad choices from DHX (that's a topic for another time), but because this was written before Rainbow Rocks and Friendship Games premiered. This story had a while inside my friend's pc and finally he took the time to reinvent it with my help and we decided to get it published, so...
Have fun.

Prologue: The Meeting of Two Dorks

In a average, everyday high school, where nothing out of common happens, a sad but dreamy boy walked by the side of a slightly grumpy but friendly buddy, walking throught the school halls as he let out a sad sigh.

"What's the matter, my friend?" said the somewhat grumpy boy, one with grey skin and white shirt with three stars on it.

"It's nothing, I was just... thinking," he responded, looking down to the floor.

"Okay, you have me intrigued... You can think?"

"Hah hah hah, nice joke, Dizzy!!!" the boy looked angrily at his friend, looking really upset. "Don't you see I'm actually feeling bad?"

"Flash, you've been like this since 'that incident' and you can't stop picking up your guitar to play sad, senseless songs just thinking about her!"

"It's just..." in that moment, Flash took his guitar from its case on his back, and started playing it in low, sad tones, "I MISS HER SO MUCH!"

"FLASH!" Dizzy snatched the guitar away from him, going into a really angry rant, "STOP PLAYING THAT THING! I HAD ENOUGH, YOU DO THAT ALL MORNINGS, AFTERNOONS AND EVENINGS AND I KNOW YOU DO THAT AT NIGHT BECAUSE WHEN YOU'RE SAD YOU SING SO OUT OF KEY YOU SCARE MY KITTEN, AND YOU KNOW THEY HAVE BETTER EAR THAN A HUMAN! STOP THINKING ABOUT HER, SHE'LL NEVER COME BACK, SHE'S A PASTEL-COLORED EQUINE FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION! NOT ONLY IS THAT THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING I'VE EVER SAID IN A SENTENCE IN A LONG TIME, BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT ONLY HAPPENS ONCE IN A LIFETIME!"

Dizzy took a break to catch some air, after screaming so loud anyone who was passing aside gave him strange looks.

"...Besides, what were you thinking falling in love with a pony?"

Flash gave him another mean look, but it quickly changed into a tearful expression of sadness.

"IT'S TRUE!!! WHYYYYY???" Flash dumped his head over Dizzy's shoulder, crying like he'd never cried before. He couldn't help but pat his friend on his back.

"Ugh, okay, okay. I was a little rude, but at least that way you'll see things more realistically and-"

In that moment, he noticed that the Vice-Principal Luna was walking right towards them.

"What is going on in here?" she asked in an unamused tone.

"Oh, vice-principal Luna, good morning. I was just.." Flash sniffed trying to get a hold of himself.

"I just told him the truth," Dizzy explained, althought Luna didn't look very impressed. "It's not my fault it was brutal and cruel."

"So it was you who did this, Mr. Dizzy?" the viceprincipal yanked the student's ear with the most annoyed look one can imagine.

"Owww Oww Oww! Wait! Ouch!"

"Mr. Flash," she said, still not letting go Dizzy's ear, "go wash your face. I want you and Grumpyface to come with me."

Both friends look at each other, Flash still sniff while Dizzy rolled his eyes, and replied in unison:

"Yes, miss Luna."

Moments later, Luna took Flash and Dizzy to the Auditorium, with many new students over the stage in a row.

"Uhm, what is this?" Dizzy asked in confusion.

"These are our new stdents that will access this semester, I've chosen you to be school guides to a couple of them."

In an instant, Dizzy was the first to refuse.

"I pass!" trying to get off Luna's grip, he was already stepping back. "I don't wanna be nanny of nobody."

"What a shame, Mr. Dizzy," Luna replied, her voice slightly getting more serious, maybe unusually serious. "I chose you for a reason, you've been turning away from others and acting very angrily since 'that day', so I've decided that either you become the guide to one of this boys or if you refuse, I'll expell you."

Dizzy gulped in fear, looking at his friend, who was looking at the row of students.

"...Whyyyyyy? Flash, help meeeeee! ...Flash?"

Meanwhile, Flash was frozen in shock recognizing a familiar face in the row: a shy looking girl with glasses and her hair in a bun, really pretty yet very nervous. Losing no time, she approached the girl, trying to act as nice as he could.

"H-Hello," despite his efforts, he was still shaking in nervousness at the familiar girl. She didn't reply, just looking at him in a shy way, so Flash tried talking again. "A-Are you new in the neighborhood?"

The girl simply nodded in response, while Flash tried to be more gentle.

"I-I'm Flash Sentry, and I-I'lll be your guide. P-Please don't be afraid, as your guide I'll show you everything in the school..." he said as he kneel near her, acting with nervous chivalry. "And you'll have my protection against anyone who tries to impose over you. Y-You have my word, princess."

While many of the students rolled their eyes at the scene, the girl simply blushed, surprised by the kindness of the boy. While still nervous, she grabbed his hand.

"T-thanks Flash... I'm Twilight Sparkle"

"That name... is beautiful," he said as he stood up, smiling at her. "D-Do you mind if, before giving you the tour of the school, I present you to a certain group of friends?"

The girl looked at her cluelessly, still nervous about everything.

"N-No? I think that'll be fine."

"Then come with me," with kindness and care, Flash took her away from the auditorium, everyone looking reacting in different ways.

"So that's why you brought him here, isn't it?" Dizzy grumbled lowly.

"Well, yes," Luna responded, not letting her ear go. "Got a problem with that?"

"I bet he'll get upset when he finds out this one isn't a pony," he snarked, but Luna yanked his ear in response. "OUCH OUCH! EXCUSE ME VICE-PRINCIPAL, I DIDN'T THOUGHT YOU WERE THAT FUSSY."

"Mr. Dizzy, call me 'fussy' again, and I swear I'll make you write sentences so long you'll need to use all the black boards in the school."

"Okay, Okay! I got that..." Dizzy rolled his eyes as he looked over the row of students, until he caught glimpse of a curious girl, slightly short, with a cute face and shiny eyes. "Can I choose the girl with the light-blue hair?"

"Of course not!" the vice-principal replied.

"OH COME ON! YOU LET FLASH CHOOSE-" before he could go on, Luna interrupted him.

"I made him a favour to Flash, and it was just this one time. But youuu..." she then pointed to a boy who seemed to be lost in thoughts and distracted. Black with a stripe of white hair, a blue t-shirt with a crown stamped on it, open dark-blue shirt and with a crown on his head, the boy looked like quite the case. "You will stay with that boy over there."

"What the..." Dizzy was in shock that he had to be with that weird looking guy.

"Youngster, come here," calling the boy towards them, Luna left Dizzy in front of him. "This is Dizzy, he'll be your school guide for the first few weeks. I already made sure you share the same classes so, good luck."

The vice-principal left them as she approached the row to assemble more pairings.

"Uhm, hello," the boy with a crown said, not knowing what to say, while Dizzy replied with a very deadpan tone.

"Welcome to Canterlot High, the most fan-friggin-tabulous on the planet, where you can study and get bitter about life, while you remember the educative system in our country is a piece of-"

"Oh, that's nice!" the strange boy grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously as he spoke with a cheerful, fast tone. "I'M CROWNED! YOU MAY CALL ME CROWN, THE ONE WITH THE CROWN, THAT GUY WITH A CROWN, OR CALL ME FOR SUPPER CAUSE I'M HUNGRY! I COME FROM CRYSTAL PREP, YET I PREFER TO NOT TELL DETAILS BUT I'M SO EXCITED TO BE IN THIS PLACE! I'VE HEARD SO MANY GOOD THINGS ABOUT IT AND-"

"Woah woah woah, calm down!" Dizzy released his hand from the grip, still shaking. "Okay, okay, from the top... You come from Crystal Prep?"

"...I'd rather not go into details," he said nervously.

"I understand, it's better tha way. Not many people have the best impression from that place, trust me," Dizzy looked at his partner as supportive as he could, even if he didn't feel much about it. "Well, I'm Dizzy, like the vice-principal said."

Crowned checked on his new guide. He nnoticed his was wearing a purple scarf, a pair of jeans and black sneakers, but was surprised by his white hair with a stripe of blue.

"Do you paint your hair?"

"N-No, it isn't..." Dizzy was about to protest, but then he remembered the guy was new in the school. "Ok, I suppose you don't know. On science class a couple of idiots, a really thin and nasal fella and his chubby, buck-teethed pal, found it funny to spill some chemicals on my head and... Poof! White hair. Only a small tuft survived, now they say I look more like my cousin, the skier. But who are you to talk, mister 'black and white' hair? What's your story?"

"You mean this?" Crowned asked, pointing at his hair. "Uhm, genetics, I suppose?"

"Wait, they're natural?!"

"Yup!"

"...Does your family hunts down monsters and demons or something like that?" he asked, hoping he could get his reference.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, nothing, forget about it," Dizzy said, seeing that it flew over his head. "By they way, why do you use that crown?"

"Oh, this! Do you want the long story, or the short story?"

"Short, I just want to get over this day already."

"Oh, okay," Crowned then adopted a seemingly heroic pose, as he began speaking like he was some kind of hero. "I AM CROWNED KING, KING OF HAPPINESS! AND AS A KING, MY DREAM IS MAKE EVERYBODY HAPPY!"

Everyone that remained in the auditorium delivered the most shocked looks one could expect, wondering what the hell was going throught his mind.

"O-kaaaaay..." Dizzy could help but think to himself: 'great, I'm stuck with a looney.' "So, do you want me to give you a tour?"

"YEP!" Crowned grabbed his partner's arm, getting pretty close to him.

"Just don't get too optimistic. I don't want to catch... whatever you have."

And so, the new duo left the auditorium to explore the school, although all Dizzy could think of was 'why couldn't I get the light-blue haired girl instead?'

Ch1: The Optimist, The Bitter-Pants, & The Girls with Colorful Manes

Author's Note

Well, after that short introduction, is time for the true first chapter. First thing you'll notice is that this is different than other works because this was actually edited between my good ol' friend KingMario128 and me, and if there's something he's good at is at writing a TON of stuff in a short amount of time. That's why the lenght of the chapters will be... pretty big, to say the least.

Unlike my other work, however, this will be uploaded in a shorter amount of time, thanks to the fact this was mostly edited and written by him, so you'll bet this will be done quicker than my other project. Anyways, enjoy this little calvacade of comedy and randomness.

Ch1: The Optimist, The Bitter-Pants, & The Girls with Colorful Manes

After their first encounter at the auditorium, Dizzy guided his new partner around the school, showing him the different classrooms and meeting places.

"...and here is the science lab," he remarked as they stopped outside the room filled with beakers and chemicals. "Small tip, always come with some headgear on or you might lose your hair."

Dizzy pointed out his own whited-out hair as an example, causing Crowned to giggle a little bit.

"Heh heh heh, I guess..." taking a small peek at the classroom, he was surprised by the size of it. "Uhm, it's... a bit small, don't you think?"

"Small?" while his comment surprised him, Dizzy remembered a small detail. "Oh right, you come from the school of snobbish and moneybags. Don't tell anybody about it or they'll wat you alive."

"Of course not! Not in a million ye-" In that moment, Crowned noticed a cute couple walking through the nearby halls. "Wait, isn't that the blue-haired guy who left with Twilight?"

In that moment, Dizzy turned his head to see his friend talking with the new girl, looking already in love with her.

"Pfft! Lucky Brad, on top of being the teachers' favorite."

"Wait, his name is Brad?"

"Oh no, that's how we used called him," Dizzy began to explain, "but ever since the 'incident' he lost his 'Brad-ness' and he became... tamer. I still call him that way nonetheless."

After hearing his story, Crowned looked again at the the couple, now grabbing hands.

"They look really happy, don't you think?"

"Perhaps too much for my tastes," replied Dizzy below his breath.

The two of them followed Flash and Twilight as they kept talking with each other, until they arrived to the Cafeteria, where Dizzy stopped his friend dead on his tracks.

"Wait, what? What's in there?" Crowned asked in confusion.

"It's the Cafeteria. Do not go in there," Dizzy replied, looking pretty annoyed. "It's just filled to the brim with annoying people, you're better eating in the halls more cal-"

His explanation was cut short when he noticed his friend already opening the doors to the Cafeteria, and that made him completely nervous.

"HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" he shouted as he followed his partner trying to take him out of that place. But the kid with the crown ignored him and just looked over at the multitude of colorful boys and girls on the tables.

"WOAH, THIS IS GREAT! I've never seen so much color in one place!" he shouted in amasement. meanwhile his grumpy guided arrived... well, grumpy, and started scolding him.

"Grr, why did you come in here?" he asked clearly bothered by the place. "And what do you mean with 'color'?"

"Well in Cry-" Crowned stopped himself remembering what his friend had suggested. "Ehem... In my other school we had to use uniform and it was somewhat uncomfortable, but here everyone wears whatever they want."

"Oh, alright," Dizzy responded calmly, before going back into his grumpy behaivor. "Well, you saw, you met, we leave now."

Dizzy tried to pull the new kid with him, but was unable, as he stood in his place like a statue.

"OH COME ON, LET'S JUST GO!"

"Please, Dizzy, let me meet them. I want to make new friends!"

"Why? I'm your friend, I guess you'll have with one. Now let's go!"

"Wait, really?" Looking at Crowned's excited face, Dizzy realized what he just said. It wasn't like he disliked the guy, as weird as he seemed, and perhaps getting close to him could make his job as a guide easier.

"Well, yeah, I am now."

Before he could add something else, he felt his new friend hug him real hard, almost pushing the air out of his lungs.

"YAY, I HAVE A NEW FRIEND!" Crowned screamed in delight, as Dizzy struggled to breath.

"S-STOP... HUGGING ME... I'M S-SUFFOCATING..."

"Whoops, sorry!" the kid with a crown let go his friend, as he recovered the air that he was missing. "Sorry, I didn't have many friends in Crystal Prep and-"

"Maybe another day you can tell me your backstory," Dizzy exclaimed, looking more and more nervous, "now, let's just go!"

His new friend quickly noticed something was wrong with him, and was concerned about what was going into him.

"Why are you getting so paranoid?"

"IT'S NOTHING! JUST... ARGH!" Dizzy hid right behind of Crowned, looking over a certain group of girls with discomfort.

"Uh, Dizzy?" Crowned looked at the same group as his friend, and he wasn't ready for what he saw.

Passing near them, he noticed how curious this girls were: one had a long, pink hair with a white shirt and green skirt with butterflies on it, another one had a short, rainbow-colored hair wearing a shirt with a lightning bolt the same color as her hair, all looking very cheerful talking with each other.

"Wait, who are them?" Crowned asked in delight, surprised by this colorful band of girls.

"They're none of our business, can we go now?"

"What an awful guide you are, I haven't even..." In that moment, Crowned laid his eyes over the single most beautiful thing he had ever seen. "Oh dear goodness!"

"Crowned, I'm being serious," Dizzy exclaimed, still trying to pull his friend away. "If we don't leave at this moment... Wait, who are you looking at?"

Turning his eyes towards where his friends was looking, the pale guy noticed the one girl he was focused on: Blonde, with a couple of freckles on her cheeks, with a cowboy hat and a white shirt with a green stripe on top, wearing a denim skirt, it was the prettiest girl Crowned had ever seen. For Dizzy, on the other hand...

"...please don't say it."

"What a beautiful girl..." the guy with a crown said in delight. "All of them are pretty, but her... My goodness."

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to stare at her for a long time," his friend replied, slightly more scared than usual.

"Why? What does she... MY GO-!"

Dizzy had to cover his mouth to stop him from shouting, as he watches as the girl stretched her arms, slightly revealing her midriff exposing her marked abs and a cute navel that made him blush like a tomato.

"I told you, she's not a pretty girl," Dizzy said exasperated, believing his friend was shocked instead. "She's really... masculine, let's just say. Seriously, she has no bother in showing those 'deathly abs' of her. She's-"

"ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!" Crowned yelled despite his friend's struggles.

"...Excuse me?" true to his skin, Dizzy got a shade of white paler than before.

"Beautiful, with a cute face, a sweet midriff, those huge... tracts of land... Does she have a boyfriend?"

Dizzy's eye twitched in disbelief, trying to comprehend his friend's train of thought.

"Y-Y-You're insane..." he mutteredas he processed the information. "Only you get the big idea of falling for a tomboy like that far-"

Realizing what he was saying, Dizzy shutted up for a second as he checked if the farmer was listening. Thankfully, she wasn't.

"Listen to me, she's not worth your time."

"B-But why?" Crowned wondered completely clueless.

"Well for start-"

In that moment a certain spiky blue-haired boy approached they pair, with a smug grin on his face.

"Because she always beats him up," Flash started explaining, "she's very protective over her friends, especially her little sister, which this dork once tried to ask on a date."

Dizzy blushed a new shade of red from what his friend revealed, shouting at him in complete embarrasment.

"SHUT UP, YOU DAMNED BRAD!!!"

"Pfft, you do but can't let others do, right, you fussy?

Dizzy simply huffed in response, looking pretty angry about the uncomfortable revelation of his "past".

"The name's Flash, by the way," he said while extending his hand to Crowned. "Nice to meet you, crowned pal."

"Nice to meet you too! And I'm actually Crowned."

Flash smiled at the coincidence and giggled in a friendly way.

"Well, welcome here. I hope you don't get discouraged because you're stuck with this grumpy pants," said Flash as he pointed to Dizzy, who replied by huffing again, almost blowing steam from his nose, "but you can always count on me or the girls to give you a tour."

"Oooh! But wait, weren't you with Twilight?" Crowned realized, noticing the rocker was unaccompanied.

"Well, yeah."

"And where she is? Where did you left her?"

Flash smiled and nodded towards the table where the colorful girls were at.

"...In better hands."

Crowned and Dizzy looked to where he pointed, and noticed the group of friends greeting Twilight, like if she was an old friend that just came back. Althought they were aware she wasn't the same they knew.

"D'aaaw, that's so cute," the boy with the crown smiled as he watched them getting so well together.

"Yep, they're complete again," Flash added while happily grinning about the situation.

"Yeaah..." Dizzy coughed a little before saying something else beneath his breath, "To ruin 'her' life again."

"What did you say?" Crowned managed to listen to his friend, and was surprised by his sheer pessimism.

"Don't listen to Dizzy, he's just angry," the blue haired buy explained, "he was the only fan of the 'old' Sunset Shimmer."

"And who is she? Is she a nice old lady?" while his comment was sincere and innocent, Dizzy overreacted and began strangling him in a rather exaggerated way.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL 'OLD LADY' TO A WOMAN AS FINE AS HER?!" Crowned was shaken back and forth as Flash tried to separated him from the pale guy.

"Dizzy, stop! If it matters so much to you, then you should've explained our friend about the rules and the 'events' that have occured inside these walls."

"What events? What's going on? And do you have painkillers for my neck?" Crowned couldn't help but look over Flash and Dizzy, rubbing his now sore neck. Dizzy groaned desperately and rolled his eyes.

"If it matters so much to you, why don't you explain it yourself?!"

Flash simply sighed in resignation and decided to explain.

"You're a bitter-pants," he replied to Dizzy as he turned his head towards Crowned. "Okay, my friend, look: Those girls are the 'Rainbooms', well at least that's the name of their band."

Crowned listened to him with curiosity, while Dizzy simply rolled his eyes as Flash continued telling.

"Those girls are the most special part of the school, you see. Look," he began explaining as he was pointing to each one of the girls, "the one over there is Pinkie Pie. She's the cheerful of the group, always trying make everybody laugh and throws the best parties in the neighborhood; The fancy one with purple hair is Rarity. She's rich, fancy, slightly crazy and has half the school drooling for her, but has a sincere and generous; Fluttershy is timid, but a nice friend and confident, her kindness always brings joy to everyone; Then there's Rainbow Dash,the most competitive athlete and the most loyal friend one can imagine; I think you really want me to tell you about the farmer girl: her name is Applejack, member of the biggest family in the city and most honest person you will find; And finally, Twilight Sparkle, who despite just meeting this version of 'her', I can still feel something magical about her."

After his long explanation, Crowned was overjoyed, looking at the Rainbooms in a new way. Dizzy remained in silence, still frowning.

"Do you really believe they are that important?" the crowned boy said with curiosity, looking at his new friends.

"Like you have no idea, friend," responded Flash with smiling.

"You should really telm me what happened here one day," Crowned added cheerfully. "Anyways, thank you for telling me who they are. Can I... talk to them?"

"I'd rather prefer to wait for later. They haven't seen Twilight in a long time."

While the two were speaking, Dizzy was instead growing more impatient and nervous around something.

"Okay, now that you told him everything, it's time for us to go before she appears." he said, trying to pull Crowned with him.

"Before who appears?"

"Sun-AAAH!" Dizzy screamed nervously and hid behind his friend, as a girl with a long red and yellow hair wearing a leather jacket passed near them, greeting Flash from afar as she sit near the other girls.

"And who is she?" Crowned asked in even bigger confusion.

"Sunset Shimmer," Flash began explaining, his voice slightly more serious. "She's... a special case. 'Old' was a bully who threatened everybody with her mere presence and had dominant tendencies. I know it well, I was her boyfriend."

"Yeah, she had no time for annoyances like you," Dizzy snarked grinding his teeth, and was promply shushed by his friend.

"But then, the 'old' Twilight appeared, and she gave us the power to oppose her. But then... there was an incident that made us realize the 'inner demon' that Sunset couldn't control."

"YOU KNOW TOO WELL IT WAS THAT FARMER'S FAULT WITH HER GROUP OF FRIENDS!" Dizzy yelled exasperated. "SUNSET WAS TOTALLY NORMAL, AND THEN-"

"Dizzy, if you want everyone to turn around, keep on yelling and they'll look at you even more weirded out than they already do."

Realizing that, indeed, several students were looking at him with faces that exclaimed "What bit this guy?", ran away from the Cafetería, blushing so hard his whole face turned red. Crowned wondered what was all about.

"Flash? What's bothering Dizzy so much?"

The blue-haired boy sighed, knowing too well what he was going through.

"The fool has a crush on Sunset, and a big one, so big that he's the only student that 'defends' the old Sunset, even thought the new one is more gentle, caring and empathic."

"You mean she changed?" the crowned boy was now beyond curious. "But how did she change?"

"That's where I was going. You see, a long whi-"

Suddenly, the ringing of the bell made everyone go to their classrooms, interrupting Flash's story.

"Ok, class time," Flash patted his new friend on the shoulder and guided him in Dizzy's absence. "Come along, pal, I'll show you wher your class is."

Crowned followed Flash to his first class, where Dizzy was already sitting in a corner, still feeling ashamed. Recognizing his guide and friend, he decided to sit near him, hoping that could cheer him up. Thankfully, it did, and the rest of their day passed relatively well.

The following day, Crowned arrived early at the school, excited about a brand new day at his new school.

"What a beautiful day, just without Dizzy... wonder where he is."

Hoping to find his among the multitude of students arriving with him, he accidentally stumbled upon a certain someone, falling to the ground.

"Ouch!"

"Oww, ar' y'ah okay, buddy?" the student said, in a southern accent.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Did I hurt... you..." Crowned remained silent, only smiling with delight at who was in front of him.

With a honest smile on her face, Applejack extended her arm to help him get up from the floor.

"Ne'h, don't worry about me," she replied gently, "but do you need some help, sugarcube?"

"Eeeeeeeeh..." the young boy remained joyfully surprised, but managed to get a hold of himself. "I mean, YEAH YEAH YEAH!"

AJ helped the boy with a crown to stand up, as he cleaned himself up.

"Alright, feelin' better buddy?" Applejack asked with her cute accent.

"Y-Yes, of course, I..." despite his attempt to remain calm, Crowned couldn't containt his excitement and rapidly shook her hand. "IT'S MY PLEASURE! I'M CROWNED!"

"Woah, hold there, pal!" the farmer girl smiled at his little antic. "A'h know y'ahr feelin' excited for y'ahr first or second day, but calm down. A'hm Applejack, pleased to meet y'ah'"

Crowned didn't respond. He just remainded smiling in a silly way, stunned by the beauty of the farmer girl.

"Uhm, is everything okay, buddy?" she waved her hand over his face, hoping for him to react in someway. And what a way did he reacted.

"A lot... I mean, ehm.... What a beauty... I MEAN, BEAUTIFUL DAY! Like you... I mean you understand, it's radiant... he day, not you... BUT NOT LIKE YOU AREN'T! IT'S JUST..."

His sudden explosion of emotions caused Applejack to break into laughter, delighted by his responses.

"Pffft! HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!!! OH DEAR, THAT WAS FUNNY! A'h like you already!"

"S-Seriously?" the crowned boy blushed the same shade as his friend Dizzy, still smiling.

"Of course," Applejack smiled at him in return. "It's good to see that despite hanging around tha' bitter moron, he hasn't passed his attitude into you... yet."

"Oh... you mean he's always been like that?" Crowned was now concerned about his new friend, if he had truly been than bitter all his life.

"Personally speaking, yes. But he wasn't as much until... certain incident happened."

"Was it that ugly?" Now he was legitly worried about Dizzy.

"Well, A'h don't know if Flash told y'ah already in the Cafeteria yesterday, but Sunset-"

"Wait, something happened that showed everyone about Sunset's 'inner demonds', right?" Crowned tried to guess. "But what happened? Did you make her angry? Did you expose her truth? Was she on her days?"

Applejack tried to contain her laughter from all those guesses, and had to pause him before he tried to guess crazier stuff.

"Oh no no no no! None of that!" the farmer girl let out a small chuckled, and managing to regain her composture, she continued talking. "You see, she... She literally became a ragin' she-demon."

That answer, of course, left Crowned beyond confused.

"...what?"

"A'h know y'ah possibly don't believe in that suff: magic, demons, etc." she explained, looking at him with dead-serious eyes. "But I can assure you, if it wasn't for Twilight, this school would possibly not be here anymore. The magic inside her saved all of us. Well, with our help of course."

Crowned was slightly confused, and couldn't figure out if it was because he was so lost in her stare or because of her actually being honest, but he actually believed everything she just said.

"You say everything so secure and sincere... I can't think that you're lying."

"A'hm Applejack the honest, and A'h never lie."

Both of them smiled and looked at each other's eyes, making Crowned smile kindly.

"How could I doubt you? I can feel you're telling the truth."

"Heh, A'hm happy y'ah didn' freak out like others did," she responded with a warming smile.

"Well, if that's true, then why did Dizzy got so bitter?"

Applejack sighed a little, she didn't like to talk about the guy.

"Everybody at school knows that Dizzy has a giant crush for Sunset, ever since we were freshmen. But the fool followed her even in her darkest days like a slave; and after the incident, everyone ended up hating Sunset for trying to take over the world, yet..." the girl tried to smile remembering the first days with the 'new' Sunset, and how she had improved. "Yet we accepted her as our friend, for we knew she learned her lesson, and still Dizzy blames us because of how everyone hates Sunset."

"Oooooh..." Crowned comprehended what Dizzy was feeling, eveyrthing making more sense to him. "Now I understand why he's so... grumpy?"

"He's an idiot," Applejack replied bluntly, and Crowned remembered the other thing he did to make her dislike him.

"...well yeah, but still we can't let him be that way, I need to help him."

"But wha'h? According to Flash, he tried to strangle you."

Crowned once again adopted his "royal" stance and adjusted his crown like if he was an actual king.

"Well, I am a King, and it's my job as a king to make everyone around me happy!"

Applejack looked at the boy in silent shock, wondering what was going on suddenly with him.

"Uuuhm, do you believe to be a king and that's wha'h y'ah use that little crown?"

"Actually, this crown is..." Crowned cleared his throat, thinking about either telling her his backstory, or trying to find his new friend. "It's a long story, but first, I must go for Dizzy and help him out, it's my job."

The farmer girl was still somewhat perplexed at the guy's odd attitude.

"Really?"

"I just said that I could help him, and that's what I'll do. Or do you think I'm lying?"

Shocked by the way he replied, the two of them stared at each other's eyes again, and this time it was AJ who smiled.

"Alright sugarcube, guess y'ahrr pretty honest, and A'h like that." Fixing her hat like a cowboy, the farmer smiled with a determined face. "So tell me, how can A'h help y'ah?"

"Wait, YOU'LL HELP ME OUT?!" the crowned boy smiled with joy at her words.

"Of course! I like to beat him but..." the cute blonde smiled awkwardly, feeling funny of actually being friendly to Dizzy, "Sometimes I feel bad for the idiot, so just tell me what to do for him to change."

"Oh alright, well... I have a lot of ideas, the first one could be to plan a par-"

Before he could finish his statement, a curious pink girl jumped from out of nowhere.

"A PARTYYY?!" the girl screamed in delight, like if she knew what Crowned was about to say.

"PINKIE PIE?!" Applejack scolded her friend for being... well, her usual self.

"OH, I HEARD YOU WERE THROWING A PARTY, SO WELL, HERE'S PINKIE TO HELP WITH EVERYTHING!" Crowned was simply surprised at how fast and joyful she talked. "SO, TELL ME WHO'S THE LUCKY GUY!"

"Uhm, Dizzy." Applejack was somewhat reluctant of saying who the party was for, and Pinkie's response showed why.

"Oh. Uhm... Interesting, I suddenly lost all the excitement, heh heh," the crowned boy noticed how her smiled passed from a cheerful one to a nervous one.

"Oh, but why?" he asked somewhat emotionless.

"I mean, this couldn't be the first time I try to make a party for that bitter pants but... last time we tried he just kept cursing everybody... like... really badly." The pink girl's hair deflated for a moment, and suddenly looked pretty down and sad. "Why did you remind me?"

"Oh sugarcube, calm down," Applejack said as she hugged her. "Our new Crowned friend has an idea."

But after looking at Pinkie's reaction, Crowned wasn't as upbeat like before.

"Uh, well... the idea of the party is useless now."

Her apple friend realized his change in attitute and tried to lift him up.

"Everything fine, Crowned?"

The boy remained silent for a moment, before lifting his head up and looking at her.

"How was Dizzy before? I mean, before 'that day'?"

The two girls looked at each other for a moment, and nodding their heads, they decided to grab Crowned and take him with them.

"A'h think we need to have this conversation somewhere more private."

"W-Where are you taking me?" asked a really confused Crowned, turning his head to look at both of them.

"Oh, we're going to see the others!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed back again to her cheerful demeanor.

"Huh?!"

The two of them pulled Crowned towards what Dizzy had told him was the music room, and effectively, the rest of the Rainbooms were already there, grabbing some instruments to practice their songs.

"Hey girls, I brought us a new friend!" Pinkie then proceeded to pull Crowned towards everyone of them, much to his amusement. "This is Crowned. Crowned, I present to you the rest of my friends! This is Rarity..."

"Hello, crowned boy," the fashionista said in her educated voiced.

"...This is Fluttershy..."

The shy girl, from whom Crowned easily noticed her remarkable buxom, hid behind Rainbow Dash, simply waving her hand saluting him.

"Heh heh heh, I don't bite, I swear," the boy said jokingly, until her friend stepped up to greet him.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, the #1 athlete in this school!" the girl with rainbow hair exclaimed as she shook her hand before being pulled towards the cute purple girl that just joined the band.

"And, well, you already know me, Crowned," she said timidly, much to the surprise of the other girls.

"Wait, YOU WENT TO THE SAME SCHOOL!?" Pinkie was more than shocked, her jaw almost reached the floor.

The two of them blushed nerviously, remembering their time at the school.

"Yeah, althought... We weren't exactly best friends..." Crowned explained, trying to divert his eyes from her. "We just talked from time to time."

"Yup, JUUUST from time to time." the look on their faces clearly showed that they hid something, and that was probably the worst time to talk. Unfortunately, Applejack did catch that fact.

"So, tell me wha' happened there that y'ah were transferred here?" she asked, looking at both of them, who quickly diverted their eyes and blushed.

"Long story." The expression on both of them reading 'I don't wanna talk about it."

"Hmhmhmh, the day you tell us that story will be very interesting, I suppose," the way Rarity teased them made them blush even harder, making the other girls laugh.

"Leeeeeeeet's talk about other thing, like Dizzy-"

Soon, the laughter was replaced by long groans of disconfort from the other girls.

"...Is he really that bothersome?"

"A'hm sorry sugarcube," Applejack began to talk, and Crowned blushed yet again hearing her call him 'sugarcube', "but Dizzy has been truly annyoing for us."

"He always tries to ridicule us and blames us for what happened to Sunset," Rarity exclaimed with disgust.

"IF I COULD I WOULD HIT HIM REAL HARD!" Rainbow said pretty angrily, "But Luna doesn't let me somehow."

"He always ruins my attempts at parties because 'I have no right to celebrate' after the whole Sunset thing," Pinkie added, sounding more cheerless than angry.

"...he doesn't like animals beyond cats and kittens," Fluttershy added with her low, sad voice.

"And as soon as he saw me he stared at me kinda uncomfortable... like if he blamed me for something yet I'm just new in here," Twilight looked confused rather than angry, probably as curious as Crowned was.

Looking at how angry and sad they looked, he decided to stand in front of them, and making a reverence he spoke with his "royal voice" as he considered it.

"I-I'm sorry that I had to remind you of that, but I want Dizzy to stop being the angry guy he is, and try to redeem his actions. I want to find something that makes his heart positive again, or if it never was, do it for once. Because I am a king, and a king needs to make his kingdom happy, even if this isn't my kingdom."

The Rainbooms looked at the guy without knowing how to react. While it was easy to dismiss him as just another crazy kid, there was something in him that sounded genuine. But there was someone else that heard, and really appreciated what he was doing for a friend.

"Alright, King With No Kingdom." The Rainbooms and Crowned turned their heads to the door, from where Flash was standing with a smile on his face. "Maybe I can help you with something."

"Hey Flash!" the boy greeted him with joy, "Good thing you're here. How could you help me?"

"It's simple, you want Dizzy to be happy, then fix him a date with-"

The Rainbooms instantly panicked and began screaming:

"NONONONONONONONO!!!!"

"Uh, why are you all screaming at me?" a sweatdrop appeared on his forehead, looking somewhat scared.

"Flash, I know you want to help Dizzy, but Sunset is still recovering from-" Applejack nodded her head towards Twilight, who was just as confused as him, "-from 'that', and she needs to stay more with us for now."

The blue-haired boy understood her worries, and apologized.

"Fine, ok, but-"

"NO 'BUTS' ABOUT IT, LITTLE BOY!" Pinkie exclaimed, standing in front of him like if she was a drill sergeant. "I WON'T LET OUR SUNSET 'BACON HAIR' SHIMMER GET SAD AGAIN. I MADE A PINKIE PROMISE, YOU HEAR ME?! PINKIE PROMISE!!!"

Flash didn't know what to say to the crazy party girl, he was even terrified for a moment.

"B-But Pinkie, I-"

"Flash Sentry," Rarity interrupted this time, "As a gentleman you should know that things like this can affect a lady for a long time, it's not something that vanished within a week or two, not even three."

"Rarity, I understand that, but-"

"Uhm, you should not..." Flash just stood there shocked, that even Fluttershy was interrumpting him, "I mean... I-It's what I think... m-meep!"

The boy remained in his place, waiting to see if Rainbow decided to interrupt. Or Applejack. Or even Twilight.

"...can I talk now?"

"...I think? ...You will tell me what happened here, will you?" Twilight asked in utter and complete confusion.

"...Someday," the other girls replied in unison.

"Ok, ok... Go ahead."

Flash finally took a deep breath, and finally finished what he was going to say.

"Crowned, fix Dizzy a date with Coco."

"NONONONO..." the other girls began to scream, until they realised what he said. "Wait, who?"

"Well," the blue-haired explained, "Yesterday when we were told to choose our partners, I noticed Dizzy was looking at one of the new girls, and from what I head that girl is named 'Coco Pommel'. I know Dizzy admires Sunset too much but, when I saw him looking at Coco, I saw something... different in him, so I thought that what better form to make him change that a small date with this Coco girl? Maybe it could give him some motivation if he knows there's a girl interested in him."

The girls looked at each other, thinking about the plan he was suggesting, when suddenly Rarity began to giggle.

"Oh, that girl signed for the Sewing Club, so I'll try to get as close to her, just to know how she is and prepare a date for the old grumpy-pants."

"OH, OH, OH, AND I KNOW WHERE THEY COULD EAT!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "OTHERWISE I KNOW WHERE ELSE! AND IF NOT, I KNOW ANOTHER PLACE!"

"And my critters could keep a eye on him!" Fluttershy said in delight.

"THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT!!!" Pinkie then grabbed the other girls to plan out how they'd convince Coco for this surprise date, as Flash approached his friend Crowned to talk.

"Well, I think you did it."

"Do what?" the boy with the crown wondered, "You were the one who proposed the date."

"Yeah, but without you, i doubt that could've happened. But now you have Twilight and the girls thinking about how to help Dizzy to get over his bitterness."

"Oh, well..." Crowned blushed at his complement, "that changes everything. I actually feel better."

The two of them smiled, looking at how the Rainbooms were coming together with a plan for his friend, even singing at the same time they came up with ideas for the ideal date.

"These girls know that friendship is the most important thing, so I bet they're happy they can finally help someone in conflict in a long time."

Crowned looked at how he was smiling, and for the first time in a while he felt like had done something important.

"Flash," he said calling the attention of his friend, "thank you."

"Heh, thanks to you, pal." Flash patted his friend on the back, "I think it's time to go to class before they put us an abscence"

"Oh right! I guess I better get going."

"Alright." Crowned was already on his way, when suddenly Flash stopped him for another moment. "Wait, before that... If you happen to find a perfectly round Stone... uhm... could you bring it to me?"

Surprised by this sudden comment, Crowned simply replied with:

"Uh... yeah yeah, sure!"

As Crowned rushed to his class, Applejack realized what he had told to his new friend, and approached him as soon as Crowned was out of view.

"Flash? Did you just told him about..."

Flash expression became a mixture of serious and concerned, as he turned to face the blonde farmer.

"I know Sunset said it would be a great risk if someone else like him knew, but..." once again, the boy smiled remembering what Crowned did, "I think his optimism convinced me he's different from the rest, and maybe give us a hand with this whole situation."

"Which as you can see, Twilight doesn't know anything about." Applejack blushed a bit, knowing that she was hiding important things to her friend, but she felt it was for the better, and so did Flash.

"I just hope she doesn't have to find out yet..."

Twilight didn't hear exactly what her friends were talking about, but her curiosity to know about what happened in the school increased with what he managed to listen about.

Later that day during classes, Dizzy was busy making a crude drawing of him with giant muscles beating the Mane 6 and Flash while holding Sunset like if he was her hero, that is until he felt like someone was breathing near his ear. He might've met him for one day, but he knew no one else who could be as curious as him.

"Crowneeeed." he exclaimed slightly annoyed.

"Uhm, what's that ugly thing supposed to be."

"...me?" Dizzy didn't know if to feel embarrased, bothered or a mixture of both as Crowned looked real close to it.

"...it looks like a salami with mushrooms shooting mini-salamies to even smaller salamies with hair."

"I CAN'T DRAW WELL, OK?! Ugh..." Dizzy groaned and rolled his eyes, hiding that and the other bunch of scribbles he had drawn while his friend chuckled in a friendly way.

"Calm down friend, there must be something that you're good for."

"Like what?"

"Perhaps numbers?" Crowned took a wild guess, judging by the books Dizzy had in his desk, covering his scribbles. Dizzy responded with a slightly smug face.

"Ok, I don't want to show off, but I kinda have some facility with mathematics."

"Great, cause I don't. In fact I hate them! Math? Meh, I get confused with all this tangents, imaginary numbers, crossed product, sines, volumen and measures of the teacher..."

Dizzy couldn't help but laugh at how he totally diverged into thinking about the teacher's measures.

"You idiot!" he tried not to yell, at the same time he giggled like crazy, "Okay, that made me laugh."

Crowned smiled at this and continuously patted his partner on the back, something that took him by surprise.

"Ok, ok, enough with the gestures," Dizzy was starting to feel somewhat weirded out, thought not angry.

"Oh come on Dizzy, you need lots of cares."

"Maybe... but not from you," he exclaimed, feeling somewhat embarrased, "S-Stop it. Now."

"NEVEEER!!!" Dizzy blushed even harder when his friend hugged him and refused to let go.

"H-HEY!!! CROWNED!!!" the pale boy shook his hands and legs, trying to free himself of the hugs, calling the attention of the teacher: a young woman maybe around her twenties, with brown hair, glasses, and wearing a white shirt with a large black skirt, who approached the pair as Dizzy struggled to get him away.

"Ehem, Mr. Crowned, Mr. Dizzy, is it possible to know what's got into you?" she scolded them, making them stop arguing.

"...Uuuh, I was just hugging my friend?" Crowned responded, trying to save face.

"I was going to say something less sugarcoated like 'I was giving him the answers for the exercise'," Dizzy said in contrast, in his usual demeanor, "but it's your punishment, not mine."

Crowned let his friend go and looked over to the teachers eyes nervously.

"I-I'm sorry, Miss Raven, it's not happening again."

The teacher sighed and responded in a more calmed way.

"Listen, I don't want you to look at me like a villain," she began to explain, "You might be new here, but I don't want you to be 'hugging' Dizzy... besides, he's not worth it."

"HEY!!!" Dizzy replied, knowing how the teacher some was sometimes a little bit trollish with her students.

"Ooww, but I don't want him to be grumpy, I wanna be his friend."

The somewhat innocent and friendly way he said it got the best of the teacher, who couldn't help but smile.

"Oh Crowned," she said while patting his head. "You seem to be so... Innocent. I like that, maybe you truly are the friend Dizzy needs, but not the one he deserves."

Dizzy nodded, until he caught what she just said.

"Heeey, wait a min... Did you just-" Raven playfully covered his mouth, just to not ruin her comment.

"Heh, I got the reference!" Crowned smiled in a similar playful way, to which Miss Raven approached to pat a little bit more on her shoulder.

"You're pretty nice to be from Crystal Prep," getting slightly closer, she acted like a mentor for him. "Listen, if you ever have problems understanding my class or another one, don't doubt telling me about it and I can give you some special classes on the subject."

Crowned tried to listen, but as much as he joked, he couldn't focus on anything other than the teacher's figure. It probably didn't help that she wasn't that much older than her students, nor the fact that her shirt really showed off her cleavage when seen that closely. He was so focused that he barely managed to snap on time for her to not notice... or maybe she did?

"Oh, I mean... that's nice, Miss Raven," he replied, trying to dissimulate his blush, "Of course I'll do."

"Alright then." the teacher mussed his hair and then directed her attention to Dizzy, this time with a mix of authoriatian and sarcastic voice, "You better not pass your bitterness to him, or else I'll make you write 'I will never talk again to Crowned' 28943 times on every chalkboard in the school, understand?"

Dizzy knew she was just being her usual troll self, but he was not going to risk it, especially since he had heard of worse punishment actually being commited.

"S-Sure, miss!" he said while loudly gulping.

The teacher returned to the front of the class to continue talking about the formulás for the sine and cosine of an angle, while Dizzy laid his face over his desk in embarrasment.

"Why does she keep menacing me of writing over all the chalkboards of the school?" he said under his breath, remembering if this was the tenth or eleventh time in a month.

"Maybe she likes the way you write?" Crowned said jokingly, although his friend wasn't in the best mood.

"You shut up, you lucky dastard!," he exclaimed in a voice not loud enough to be heard by the teacher. "I've had years trying to get on the teachers' soft spot and you don't have even three days here and you already became Miss Raven's favorite!"

Unfortunately for Dizzy, he seemed to have hit the crowned boy in a sensible topic.

"...if only it had been that way over there."

"Don't change the to... pic..." the pale boy realized maybe too late that he spoke too much, again. "W-Where you as miserable or worse than me over there?"

Trying to evade conversation, Crowned stood up and left the classroom in the middle of the teacher's explanation, something that took her and Dizzy by surprise. He even got saddened after seeing such an optimistic guy get down.
The pale boy then realized Miss Raven was looking at him with dead-serious eyes, like if she was about to actually fullfil her punishment. Getting terrified of the thought, he ran away trying to catch his friend.

"WAIT, CROWNED, DON'T LEAVE!!!" Dizzy screamed hoping that he could hear him, "I DIDN'T MEAN THAT, I USUALLY SAY NASTY THINGS BUT NOT NOW, SORRY!!!"

Despite hearing his cries, especially with his naturally loud voice, Crowned simply ignored him and walked outside of the school. Dizzy followed him there, looking all around the fields, until he noticed him sitting behind a large old tree.

"Crowned... wait..." he tried to talk, but he needed some air after chasing him around. "Please, forgive me. I didn't meant it, please."

Crowned turned his head, still looking sad, and weakly muttered:

"...I just ...need some time alone."

Dizzy recognized those words, and the way he said, and the though terrified him even more than anything Miss Raven could do. He approached the other side of the tree and spoke with his friend.

"...That's the way I started, you know?"

The boy with a crown remained in silence, trying to get lost in his thoughts.

"I mean, long time ago, something happened and..." Dizzy tried to find the words to convey it. "...I pushed my friends away, just to be alone like that. And then those moments became longer and longer, just getting so deep in my thoughts that... I finally ended up alone. Flash still talks to me but... the thoughts were so much I didn't want to be around him... my anger because of... that... it's what made me push them away."

His friend knew what he was talking about: The day Sunset became a demon, and everyone turned their backs on her.

"But... I thought you were angry about."

"I am still angry about that!" Dizzy exclaimed, but then tried to calm about it. "Well, at least not as much... since... since I met you."

Crowned reacted surprised by his words, his silence was now a stunned one, hearing his new friend say those words.

"Well, I mean... I saw how sad you got and... when I saw your face I got... H-How to put this?" if the crowned boy was struggling with his thoughts, Dizzy was struggling with his words. "I kinda saw myself and... with your cheerfulness... and the way you are, well... I don't want you to end up like me. W-What I try to say is... I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I made you remember something terrible... I-I think it would be better if we never talk about it again, or... Or maybe you wanna talk about it?"

Once again, finding himself in the dilemma of bringing back the painful memories, Crowned remained in silence. Dizzy got slightly more nervous, wondering if he was angry with him.

"Heh heh heh, just look at me: giving you the advice everyone tells me, yet..." not knowing what to say, he wondered if telling his friend about his past might make him feel more secure. Sighing and taking a deep breath, he began to explain. "I've always loved Sunset Shimmer for years now, she's the prettiest girl in school, and I never had the guts to approach her and tell her how much I love her. Last time I tried something was on her birthday, when I gave her a "Slave for a Week" ticket I made... I was pretty silly back then, you know? Ok, maybe I still am. T-The point is that, after 'that day', I... I became paranoic, just thinking about how those girls ruined my Sunset's life. But I guess..."

As he reflected on his thought, Dizzy felt something inside him, something that really irked him, and he wasn't willing to accept. Perhaps because he didn't want to feel like he was doing a bad choice, or perhaps because he didn't want to see the true as bad as it was, but watching his friend still depressed, it gave him the motivation to accept it.

"...T-the thing is... I realized that.." he took another deep breath, as he continued, trying to contain his tears, "P-perhaps she had already ruined her life before that, and I was the only blind who workshipped the old Sunset... I-I guess I should've accepted that a long time ago."

Hearing his friend accept the truth of things, and watching how hard it was for him to accept it, Crowned realized he had to do the same, even if the memories were painful for him.

"...I-I used to be a total misfit in my other school. Everybody was... I-I don't know... Rude... I think it was the principal's fault for that, but I don't like to jump the gun on anything." The boy turned his face towards his friend on the other side of the tree. "I only had a couple friends, another crazy outcast who loved to play the accordion, and a girl with few expressions, but I managed to feel... happy around them. Then a total jerk came to school and ruined everything. He tried to steal the crown that my father gave to me, claiming to be 'king of the school', but I managed to take it away from him, only for him to turn everyone against me making me feel like... like some kind of ugly bug... it was worse than before. And then I met a kind girl among them. She was... really pretty, and... I had a nice experience with her, but her 'friends' didn't let me get closer to her, and those nasty guys got so angry that they blamed me for the wrecks they made, causing me to be expelled. Twilight tried to intervene, knowing me despite not talking too much, and would've got expelled too but instead managed to convince her brother to transate us to another school. I-I chose this school because I heard how everyone was friendlier here, while Twilight had other reasons she never told me about, and... well, here I am."

Realizing all that his friend went throught, how he had some bad experiences with mean people, and how unlike him who brought everything onto himself, he suffered unfairly just for being in the wrong place with the wrong people, really made Dizzy think about how despite that he was so cheerful and nice. He knew that in Crowned place he would've become just like Shimmer, or worse.

"My friend, I'm sorry for all of that," was all he managed to say, as he walked to him and awkwardly hugged his friend. "I-If I only knew..."

"If you only knew how to hug, cause I don't think that's how it works."

Dizzy realized the awkward position he was, almost throwing himself into his friend with his arms around his neck, plus the way his friend pointed that out, made the once grumpy boy burst into laughter.

"DAMN IT, YOU CAUGHT ME OFFGUARD!" he couldn't control himself as he laughed like if he had been told the funniest joke in the world. "O-OK, THAT REALLY CRACKED ME UP. COME HERE, FRIEND!"

Giving him a strong hug, this time a normal 'non-awkward' one, Dizzy pulled his friend closer as they embraced each other as friends, not realizing that just above them, the tree started to glow in a strange-magical way. They remained that way for a couple of seconds, as the mysterious glow moved across the tree and combined at the tip of one of its branches, slowly taking the shape of a smoothly round stone, which after finishing materializing felt from the tree right in front of the boys, scaring them.

"AAAHHH!!!" the two of them sceamed at the top of their lungs while still hugging each other. After calming down, they both approached the stone, noticing the perfectly round shape of it.

"Uhm, is it just me or this apple tree became a... stone tree?" Dizzy clumsily said.

"Well, it's certainly looks strange." Crowned picked up the stone and examinated it. It wasn't heavy as it first appeared to be, and it was big enought to be carried with his two hands. Then he remembered what Flash asked him before classes, and wondered if that was what he meant. "I think we should bring this to Flash."

"Uh, why?" the pale boy asked confused.

"Because he told me that if I saw something strange, I should bring it to him."

The clumsy guy just looked at the stone, and then back to his friend, wondering what the big deal was about.

"Okay, if you say so. He's usually in theeeEEEEH!!!"

Noticing his clumsy buddy get a new shade of white with a horrified face, Crowned noticed he was looking directly to the windows of the school, and noticed something really strange: On one of the windows, a couple of shadowy silhouttes were looking directly at them. But the odd thing was that they looked almost like shadows, but physically moving the curtains from an empty classroom, and both could've sworn that they could actually feel their stares.

"Dizzy, c-calm down..." Crowned tried to maintain his composture, "Don't be scared, t-they might be just a couple of students watching us."

"O-Oh, right!" Dizzy tried to convince himself of that, but couldn't, "A-Are you sure?"

"Sure! Just calm down and..."

They both noticed the shadows looking at every step they took, and Dizzy was about to scream when he noticed their eyes seemingly turning a bright red.

"...Should we go around the school?" the pale boy asked his friend.

"...O-Ok, sounds like a good idea."

The pair grabbed the strange stone and ran away from the field running around the school, as the shadows disappeared, noticed by nobody else.

Running as fast as they could, Crowned and Dizzy arrived to the school's soccer pitch, where they noticed Applejack was training with Rainbow Dash, who was throughing karate kicks and punches to the farmer, who blocked them with ease.

"What's the matter, miss athlete? Is that all y'ah got?" the blonde girl teased her friend, blocking her movements.

"DON'T BOAST AROUND ME, MISS 'WONDER GIRL'," Rainbow replied angrily, "THAT YOU MIGHT BE STRONGER, BUT I'M FASTER!"

As she was preparing to throw a flying kick to her friend, the two boys approached them as fast as they could, carrying the odd stone and yelling as loud as they could.

"APPLEJAAACK!!!"

"Huh? Oh, sugarcube!" recognizing her friend, Applejack simply stepped out of the way of Rainbow's flying kick, as she propelled herself only to end up crashing on the floor missing her target. "Wh'ah are y'ah runnin' like that?"

The two of them then started to speak at the same time as fast as they could, their sentences mixing with each other.

"IWASWITHDIZZYATTHETREEWHEN... THISSILLYCROWNEDLEFTTHECLASSROOMBECAUSEIMADEHIMCRYAND... WESPOKEANDLAUGHANDTHEN..." they both took some breath and screamed in unison: "GHOOOSTS!!!"

"HOLD ON, HOLD ON! ONE AT A TIME!" Rainbow ordered, as she cleaned herself off from hitting the floor hard, while Applejack was more interested in what they were carrying.

"Wait a minute. Crowned, what is that?"

"T-This suddenly fell from the large apple tree on the courtyard," Crowned explained, hoping he could trust him that he was being honest, and indeed she did.

"From the apple tree, you said?" the farmer approached his hands to the stone, looking at it with great curiosity. "C-Can A'h touch it?"

"S-Sure," Crowned said, still unsure of what was going on now.

He then gave the stone to her friend AJ, and as soon as she had both hands on it, the stone began to shine in a bright white light, as it slowly morphed again from the cold, grey stone into the shape of a golden necklace, with topaz in the shape of three apples in the middle of it. The farmer and the athlete remained silent in surprise, while Dizzy had yet another freakout.

"GAH! W-WHAT WAS THAT?!"

Applejack grabbed the necklace and looked at it, still in stunned silence, then he approached the completely surprised Crowned, her face starting to show a great smile.

"Crowned... this is... OH, CROWNED!!!" as if he wasn't surprised enough, the crowned boy found himself being hugged by her, as she spinned him around with joy. "MY SUGARCUBE, Y'AH DID IT! Y'AH FOUND IT!!!"

"Yay?" he tried to speak, his voice muffled by... the place his mouth was close to. Even if he had no clue of what was going on, he felt more than happy. "I'm so glad I helped you."

Dizzy tried to open his mouth, most probably to ask what just happened, but was interrumpted by Rainbow Dash, who had an excited grin on her face.

"Hey guys, you'll help me find mine, right?!" she asked with her usual excited voice.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Dizzy trembled in fear at her words, "YOU MEAN... THERE ARE MORE OF THOSE THINGS?!"

"If I recall correctly, there are other 5 of those around the school," the rainbow-haired girl answered.

"...and those ghost appear where those stones are."

"Uhm, I think so?" Rainbow had no idea of what Dizzy was saying, so she had no idea of why then Dizzy plummeted to the ground unconscious. "eh, Crowned? I think Dizzy just-"

"Is because we saw ghost... I think," Crowned said while still enjoying the hug he was receiving, while looking at Applejack, "J-Just keep congratulating me."

"Wait, did you just say ghost?" AJ stopped her hugging and looked both at the fainted pale boy and her crowned friend, "Oh Crowned, A'h think it's better for y'ah to come with us later. There's a lot we need to tell y'ah about what is goin' on around here."

"Let's just wait for this Ditz to react at least," Rainbow tried to poke Dizzy with a stick expecting a reaction, while his friend just looked amused, none of the imagining that it was just the beginning of something crazy, and a whole lot of problems awaited them in the future.

END OF CHAPTER.